


A Place to Belong

by SkyeDoesWrite



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Adoption, Father-Daughter Relationship, Foster Care, Kid Skye | Daisy Johnson, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Panic Attacks, mama may
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 29,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27821569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyeDoesWrite/pseuds/SkyeDoesWrite
Summary: Its another fic of May and Phil fostering skye, except they are her teachers. Also fitz ks there adopted son
Relationships: Leo Fitz & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson/Melinda May
Comments: 59
Kudos: 174





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is not the best. Also feel free to correct any grammar of spelling mistakes or tell me how to improve I don't mind. :)

It was Skye's first day of first grade and she was really excited. She got out of her bed and quietly started getting ready. She picked out her best outfit which was a short sleeved light blue top and navy blue jeans that had a small hole in the side. Skye quietly walked out of her room to use the upstairs bathroom so she could brush her teeth. She made sure to be extra quiet to be careful of not waking up Susanne and Alan. They had been really nice to her in the beginning when they first got her. But as most foster homes go, it went downhill. When they first took her home they gave her a couple dolls to play with, Susanne baked her some cookies and Alan let her watch whatever she wanted on the tv. It only took two months for something to go wrong. She dropped a glass.

_It was early in the morning when Skye got out of bed to get some water. She looked down the hall as she exited her room, she could tell that Susanne and Alan were still asleep. She didn't want to wake them up so she went downstairs to get herself something to drink. Unfortunatley for her she couldn't reach the sink or where the cups were. Skye grabbed a chair to stand on, opened the cabinet and a glass fell and dropped to the ground. Panicked she tried picking up the glass but only ended up cutting herself. That's when a half asleep Alan came down the stairs. "You stupid little girl, dont you k ow you arent supposed to be breaking things" he said coming closer to her. "Im s-sorry i wanted a drink but it dropped" she said on the verge of tears. "So you're an idiot and a liar, you broke this on purpose. Don't you know you aren't supposed to break adult's things. Now I need to punish you." The tears in skyes eyes quietly fell and she sucked on the finger that had been cut. Alan grabbed her by her shirt carried her up the stairs and locked her in her room for 2 days. She didnt get food or water she could only leave when she needed the bathroom. She soon realized that Susanne and Alan were just like all the rest._

Cringing at the memory she continued to brush her teeth. She looked at herself in the mirror and started brushing her sleek mocha colored brown hair. She had bangs that hung just above her eyes and her hair was a little longer than shoulder length. Skye made her way back to her room and grabbed her small very worn out pink backpack. One of the straps was close to falling off but she didnt care she was just glad she didn't have to be "home" any longer. She checked her little black clock on her bedside table and it read 7:40am she needed to be at school by 8. 

Her room was pretty bland. At first glance you wouldn't think a child was even living there, if not for the dolls thrown in the corner. The room was an off white color and there was nothing but a small bed, a dresser and bedside table in the room. There were no toys, no drawings, books, or anything that most kids have. 

Skye grabbed her bag and started heading towards the kitchen. She hopped that no one was awake and she could maybe sneak an apple to eat for breakfast. But with no luck Susanne was sitting at the dinning table reading the newspaper. "Hey what are you doing awake, where are you going?" she said just barely looking up from her paper. "Im going to school" Skye told her trying not to sound excited or happy. "I hope your walking because im not taking a little mutt to school, especially if you're dressed like that." This time she was pointing at her whole outfit while she spoke. Skye had thought she looked nice today but as soon as Susanne had said that she didn't think so anymore. "Can i have an apple?" she asked as if she was asking for a million dollars. She knew she probably wouldn't get the apple but one could hope. "Here, now dont go telling nobody at school we don't feed you." she said putting down her paper and throwing the small girl an apple. Skye just barely caught it and took a bite. She started heading out the door as she continued eating her apple.

Luckily for her the school was right around the corner. She didn't go to orientation in the summer like most kids so she didn't know who her teacher was. As she walked she saw other kids walking with their parents and couldn't help but feel jealous. She had been in foster care her whole life and she never stayed anywhere longer than two months. Until she came here, she'd been here for five months, she didn't know why she was even still there when all they did was yell and hit her.

She walked into the building and was immediatly overwhelmed with how crowded it was. She could barley move in the halls and kids kept shoving her. She found a small corner near the entrance and sat down on the ground, she was going to wait for the halls to settle before even trying to find where she was supossed to be. She put her knees to her chest and laid her head on them, she hadn't slept much last night due to a nightmare. She felt herself getting sleepy and before she knew it she was asleep, on the ground, in the middle of school.


	2. May's Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its in Mays POV and how her morning went ya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is basically a filler chapter and some set up next chapter is where things start happening

Melinda woke up to the sound of her alarm ringing. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and checked the time. It was 7:00am, she had to get up early so she could set up her classroom for the new first graders coming. She rolled out of bed and picked out an outfit, it was nothing fancy just a black t-shirt with a pair of jeans and she threw on her leather jacket. She looked back to the bed and realized her husband wasn't in the bed sleeping.

Her and Phil Coulson have been married for ten years. They met in college when they got assigned to a group project together. Enjoying each others company so much they exchanged numbers and have been together ever since.

Seeing as it was still early she felt no need to wake up her son yet. He had short dirty blond curly hair, was around 5'6 and was quite the nerd. He loved all things sciency and space related. Leo was 14 years old and starting eighth grade at the middle school Phil worked at. They had adopted him when he was 10 years old and they've never been happier. 

Making her way to the kitchen she saw Phil standing there making pancakes in his captain america apron. He was such a dork but she loved it. 

" Good morning my love, I'm making your favorite, banana pancakes" he said turning toward her with a grin. "You didn't need to make breakfast Phil, but I appreciate it thank you." She said leaning over the counter to kiss him. Pulling away from the short but sweet kiss he said " yes I did, cause if you made it well wouldn't have a house anymore." He turned his attention back towards the stove and flipped all the pancakes. "Jerk my cooking is not that bad." "Melinda sweetheart you know I love you but you broke our toaster while making toast, how did you even manage to do that." 

Continuing to tease each other for the rest of breakfast, they heard Leo come down the stairs. He was dressed in a long sleeved shirt with a green sweater thrown over it. He plopped in a chair at the counter and started eating the pancakes Phil made.

"Well good morning to you too." May said looking at him. "Sorry good morning mom" he said with pancake in his mouth. May looked at her watch and it now read 7:20 she had to get going soon. She went to the little office they had in the house and gathered up all her school papers and lesson plans.

Their house wasn't huge it was more average sized. It was a three bedroom house with a dinning room, living room, two bathrooms and a decent sized backyard that had a small soccer net. Her office was more of a walk in closet that they converted but it was perfect for everything she needed. 

She made her way back downstairs and noticed the boys were no longer in the kitchen. Instead they were sitting on the couch watching tv. "Hey leo go get your backpack and school stuff and meet your dad and I in the car we're leaving." May said as she took the keys off the book and walked out the door to the car. She sat down in the passenger and waited for Phil and Leo to join her. Phil entered the car and put the keys in. It was starting to get colder outside so he turned up the heat. 

They had a routine Phil would drop May off at the elementary school and take Leo with him to the middle school and then he'd come back later when school was done to pick her up. 

While in the car they talked about what they were going to do with the day and there plans for the weekend. Phil pulled into the school parking lot, gave Melinda a quick kiss on her cheek and May exited the car. 

It was still early so no kids would be arriving for at least 20 minutes so she went to her classroom and wrote her name on the chalkboard. Ms.May. even though she hyphenated her name to May-Coulson she thought it'd be easier if the kids called her May. She walked around the classroom and put a "get to know you" worksheet on each kids desk.

After about twenty minutes the kids started arriving. She was outside her classroom door and greeted everyone as they entered. The halls were beginning to settle down and clear up. May soon spotted a little girl sitting in a corner all bunched up and she looked like she was asleep. She grabbed a school aid to watch her class as she approached the girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway ya feel free to comment about anything, tell me about the mistakes, hell you could tell me its terrible I don't mind, I'm just trying to improve my writing.


	3. Skye's First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye's first day of school. Introducing some minor characters that I hope will be more major later on

She opened her eyes as she felt someone touching her shoulder. Instinctively she flinched away and tried to back up only to realize she was leaning against a wall. She peeked her eyes open just enough so she could see who was touching her. It was a woman who had dark brown hair and kind looking eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you, I'm Ms.May, what's your name?" the woman said as she backed up a little. "I-im Skye" she answered making sure to not look the woman in the eyes. "That's a pretty name, can you tell me why you were sleeping just now?" Skye just shook her head as she stayed silent. She didn't want to get into trouble, she knew she wasn't supposed to be sleeping right now. 

"Ok well how about you tell me what grade you're in so we can find your teacher." Ms.May spoke in a soft and gentle tone, probably to make sure she wouldn't be scared away. 

"First grade" She said still looking at the floor. "What a coincidence I teach first grade maybe you're in my class." 

Ms.May stood up and waiting for Skye to follow her. Skye got up, held her backpack and followed Ms.May to her classroom. The classroom was neat and all the desks were in groups of three. Ms.May went behind when desk and grabbed her attendance sheet and scanned over it looking for the young girls name. To her surprise she didn't have anyone named Skye in her class. "Sorry kiddo I can't find your name on my sheet, maybe you're in Ms.Hills class." She said walking towards Skye with the sheet in her hand to show her. "You wouldn't find Skye on there, its not my real name" the girl said looking down at the floor in defeat. "Its stupid Mary-Sue." Skye pointed to her name on the attendance sheet and then returned her gaze to the floor.

She always hated the name Mary-Sue. It sounded like a grandmas name and she especially didn't like it when people called her that. So she decided to change it to something more pleasant. She picked Skye because its hard to be mad at the sky. She didn't like it when people were mad at her.

"Would you prefer I call you Skye?" No one has ever asked her that before, usually when they found out about her real name they used it despite the fact that she didn't like it. "Yes please." She said now looking at Ms.May. She didn't seem like she was mean, but then again neither did Alan. 

Every desk had a nametag on it, hers said Mary-Sue but Ms.May quickly took it off and switched it out, she appreciated that she did that for her. She sat down and took a look around. Her desk was right in front of the bookshelves and on the far right of the class. She was seated next to two kids named Lincoln and Tripp. Both boys introduced themselves and Skye stayed mostly quiet as she watched and listened to them talk. She turned her attention to the paper on her desk. It read  **Get to Know Me** on the top. She started answering the questions with simple one worded answers. The last question said to write about "your personal hero" Skye didn't have one of those, she looked over at the boys papers and both of them answered that question with their mom. She didn't have a mom, she had a Susanne but she wasn't her mom. So she left the question blank.

Two hours into the class had already passed they spent all that time getting to know their classmate and discussing class rules. Another hour passed and it was lunch time. The class stayed in the classroom for lunch because apparently the lunch ladies weren't prepared. She didn't have a lunch so she decided to read a book instead. Soon enough Ms.May came over to the bean bag she was sitting in. "Skye, why aren't you eating lunch with everyone else." She didn't want to tell her she didn't bring a lunch because she might be mad at her for being irresponsible so she shrugged her shoulders. "Skye do you have a lunch to eat today?" She shook her head and continued to read her book. It wasn't a big deal that she didn't have lunch she'd gone days without eating before. Although Ms.May made it seem like it was a big deal her face dropped and she looked heartbroken. "You need to eat lunch, do you want me to call your mom or dad maybe they can bring you something real quick." "NO! you can't call them...they're… at work..yeah they're at work" Ms.May seemed off put by the small girls reaction. She decided not to push but instead got up and walked to her desk. She grabbed a granola bar and handed it to Skye. "Here you can't go all day without eating." She didn't want to take it but she was hungry, the apple she ate three hours ago wasn't very filling. 

After lunch everyone went to the carpet for storytime. Ms.May had been reading some book called "Judy Moody" it was a weird name for a girl. But nonetheless the book was entertaining. Soon it was time to pack up and go home. There was just one problem a parent had to pick you up. Skye thought that if she was fast enough she could just run home and no one would notice but she was wrong. 

Just as she was walking towards the main exit to go home she was stopped. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she immediately flinched away from it. She turned around as quick as she could just to see it was only Ms.May. "You need to wait for your mom or dad to come get you." The teacher had told her. It was going to be a long day. After ten minutes Ms.May took Skye to the main office so she could call home. Unsurprisingly no one answered. Skye sat down on the floor in the office and stayed silent. Maybe if she was lucky they'd just let her leave. "Skye why aren't your parents here? Don't they know what time to come get you" Ms.May say down on the floor next to her and she instinctively moved a little further away. She didn't like being too close to adults. "I can walk home myself." Skye said keeping her eyes off the concerned teacher. "No you can't you're, well I'm assuming six, you can't walk home by yourself, where are your parents?" Skye didn't respond instead she just shrugged. "Ok I'll walk you home come on." Ms.May told her as she stood up.

She stood up and started walking toward the main exit of the building. She tried very hard to pay attention to the teacher who was following her. The walk to the house was silent, neither of them spoke they just walked and walked and walked. After about 5 minutes she was standing right in front of her house. "Okay you can go now." Skye said making her way to the front door. "Alright have a good day and remind your parents to come get you tomorrow." " okay"

Skye hated that word  _ parents _ they weren't her parents just people she lived with, they didn't deserve the title of "parents."

Skye opened the door to find a passed out Alan laying on the living room couch. The floor creaked as she made her way up the stairs and to her room. She shut and locked the door as quietly as she could. Sooner or later she'd need to go back downstairs so she could eat, but for right now she needed to sleep. She didn't even bother getting out of her school clothed she just threw herself on the bed and let sleep consume her.

_ "You stupid half breed, how many times have I told you not to eat my food, unless i give it to you, you can't have it, what don't you understand about that you little shit." He was so angry he started walking towards her as she scrunched herself up into a ball. Unfortunately it didn't stop or protect her from what was coming. His fist collided with the side of her cheekbone and she was left with a throbbing pain. "Go back upstairs and I don't wanna see you down here for the next 24 hours." She silently sobbed as she made her way upstairs and locked the door to her room. _

She woke up in a puddle of sweat as her heart continued to race. Tears were streaming down her face and her stomach was grumbling. She hated nightmares. Most nights she couldn't sleep more then 3 hours without one.

Skye whipped the tears from her eyes and unlocked her door, she tilted down the stairs and headed straight for the kitchen. Alan was still asleep on the couch so maybe just maybe she could get away with this. She opened the cabinets and grabbed a small bag of chips that no one would know was missing. She shoved it under shirt and walked back upstairs. Successfully making it back into the room she locked the door once again and started to devour the bag of chips. 

By that time it was only 5pm and she didn't know what to do with the rest of her time so she started doodling in one of the school books Ms.May had given them. Once she started drawing she couldn't stop and ended up filling up most of the notebook with her scribbles. She tired herself out just enough and fell asleep on the floor with the notebook as a pillow.

  
  
  



	4. Cereal For Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May an Coulson talk. Skye wakes up early.

May walked back to the school but couldn't help but feel like something strange was going on. Who forgets their kids at school, and the poor kid didn't even have lunch. 

Pulling herself out of her thoughts she saw Phil and Leo pull into the parking lot. She went inside the school to grab her things and quickly got into the passenger seat of the car. She leant over and gave Phil a quick kiss.

"Hey Mel how was your first day?" He said pulling out of the parking lot. "Oh it was fine, I'm just a little concerned about this one kid." She said as she looked out the window and watched "You're always concerned about the kids, your such a mama bear." Phil said as he shot a quick look at her. "Phil need I remind you that I am a black belt in karate and can very well kick your ass." They stopped at a red light and May turned around to look at leo.

"What about you kid, how's eighth grade?" She asked the young boy. "Ah ya know it was fine, Jemma is in my class again." He said as he fiddled with his hoodie strings. Him and Jemma had been best friends ever since fifth grade, when he was first adopted. They were partners in every science fair they had, and could often be seen working on some kind of robot in Leo's room. 

The remainder of the ride was silent and May kept thinking about the young girl. The girl had a small very damaged backpack,with little to no school supplies, and her jeans had a hole in them, it was also very clear she tried to brush her hair herself. It didn't help that she was asleep in the middle of the hallway. But seeing as it was the first day, maybe her parents were just a little forgetful, it happens.

  
The rest of May's day went as they usually do. She spent some time watching a few movies with Leo on the couch. While Phil made dinner. She had been banned from making anything other than a smoothie in the kitchen because last time she made dinner they needed a fire extinguisher. 

Tonight Phil made his amazing spaghetti and everyone sat down at the table and ate while they spoke. "The best thing happened today Mel, some kid came in with a Captain America backpack." Phil said as he had the biggest smile on his face. "Dad your obsession with Captain America is getting out of hand, you own like twelve t-shirts." Leo told him as he shoved a meatball in his mouth, as Melinda let out a small chuckle. 

The rest of the night was spent lounging on the sofa until bedtime. Once that rolled around Mel and Phil said goodnight to Leo and went to their own room and quickly fell asleep, with May cuddled close to Phil.

____________________________________________________

Skye woke up once again from a nightmare, this time she found herself on the floor with a notebook under her. She soon remembered that she had drawn on half of her brand new notebook. Ms.May was nice enough to give it to her cause she didn't have one and now she wasted it, she was going to be mad. She checked the time on her little alarm clock and it read 6:50am. She had to get up for school in ten minutes anyway so she just started getting ready now. 

She put on a pink and yellow stripped long sleeve shirt and the same pair of jeans she wore yesterday. It was starting to get colder outside and she didn't have a good sweater so she put on the only one she had. It was thin and black, but it worked for now. She brushed her teeth and went back to her room. By now it was 7:20 so she decided to just start walking and get to school early. She grabbed her bag and walked down the stairs, each one creaking as she went down. 

She made it to the living room and was about to walk out when she heard Alan walk towards her. " I know you ate my food last night." He said as he came closer to her. "You think I want a little brat coming down here and eating my stuff. Cause I don't." He was now right in front of her face and she could smell the alcohol on his breath. He opened the front door and pushed her out of it "I don't wanna see you back till its dark." She didn't say anything she just nodded her head and started walking to school. 

The walk was only five minutes and she managed to get there before class started. The only person in the room was Ms.May so she just sat down at her desk. "Good morning Skye, why are you here so early?" She shrugged her shoulders as she started taking out the contents of her bag. It wasn't much just a notebook, a folder and three pencils. She looked up and saw Ms.May was walking towards her. She bent down in front of her so she was eye level with her. "Are you okay Skye? Did you eat any breakfast" She didn't say anything she just looked down at her desk and shook her head. "Alright come on, we're gonna go see what the cafeteria has." She stood up and held out her hand for Skye to take. Skye just stood up and started following her ignoring her hand. 

They sat down at a lunch table and Ms.May got up to get some food. She came back with a small cereal and a carton of milk. "Why didnt you eat breakfast this morning." The girl remained silent as she ate her cereal. She thought her silence would sound worse so she thought up some crummy explanation. "My parents forgot to buy the milk this morning, so I ate an apple." The teacher seemed to believe her and the rest of breakfast was spent in silence.


	5. Classroom Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has brief description of a,panic attack so you've been warned. We also see Jemma :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: I'm not sure if I should leave the title "Work in Progress" or change it, let me know what you think and if you have any title suggestions don't be afraid to let me know :)

About two hours had passed since breakfast and now the classroom was filled with students. She started talking with Tripp and Lincoln about their names. "Why are you called Tripp?" She asked the boy. "My first name was difficult to say when I was younger so my parents called me Tripp instead, my last name is Triplett." He told her barley looking at her as he and Lincoln were playing Rock Paper Scissors. Lincoln started to get frustrated from loosing so much and started yelling at Tripp. 

Suddenly Skye was having trouble breathing, she bunched her knees to her chest and put her hands over ears as she rocked back and forth. She couldn't breathe and it felt like she was dying. She wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her, she heard someone calling her name but she didn't open her eyes.   
"Skye I need you to breathe" she heard someone say, she peeked open her eyes and saw Ms.May crouched down in front of her. "Skye breath with me, come on, deep breath in, and then breath out." She tried to do what she was telling her to do but it was still very hard to breathe. Suddenly Ms.May took Skye's small hand and placed it over her steady heartbeat. "Okay honey you need to match my breathing okay, deep breath in and deep breath out." After doing that a few times she could finally breathe again. She looked around and saw that everyone in the class was looking at her. Her cheeks started burning and she was really embarrassed.

Ms.May got up and told Skye to follow her to the hallway. They sat down on the floor and Ms.May started to speak. "Can you tell me what happened in there?" She looked down and shook her head. Telling her she got scared was embarrassing she wasn't a baby she shouldn't have been scared.   
"Were you scared?" Skye didn't respond, she just sat there. "Well it's alright if you were, everyone gets scared, even me sometimes." That seemed to get Skye's attention as she looked up from the floor.   
"Nuh uh adults don't get scared." Ms.May laughed a little and continued to talk. "Everyone gets scared, can you tell me why you were scared."   
Skye shook her head, and Ms.May stood up. "Do you want me to call your parents, they can take you home early." "They aren't my parents." Skye said her voice just above a whisper. "Skye what does that mean?" "Nothing never mind you don't need to call them I'm ok." She walked back into the classroom hoping she wouldn't get asked any more questions.

The rest of the day continued as though nothing happened. Lincoln apologized for getting mad and Tripp gave her a cookie to make her feel better. They continued to the carpet where Ms.May continued reading the book from yesterday. Skye wasn't paying much attention instead she was drawing in her notebook again. 

It was soon time to go and Skye was dreading it. She didn't want Ms.May trying to walk her home again. So she waited until she was talking with some kids parents and ran out the main entrance. She looked behind her to make sure no one saw her and she kept walking home. 

She made it to the front entrance when she remembered what Alan told her this morning. She wasn't supposed to be there, he told her not to come back till dark and there was still a considerable about of light out. Deciding to try her luck she walked in the house anyway, hoping that by the time Alan came home from work he'd have forgotten. She ran up to her room and locked the door.

________________________________________________

Looking around after dismissal she noticed Skye was gone, she assumed she got picked up by her parents. That's when she thought back to what the girl had told her earlier "They aren't my parents". That was definitely a weird thing for a child to say, but she let it go as she saw her husbands car pull into the parking lot.

Getting into the car she saw Leo's friend Jemma sitting next to him in the back. "Hello Jemma I didn't know you'd be hanging out today." She told her as she fastened her seatbelt. "Oh sorry Mr.Couslon said it was alright, you can drop me off home if it's a problem."   
"Nonsense Jemma you're always welcome, how was school today anyway." She said asking the two kids. "It was great we started a lesson on volcanoes" Leo said. "I'm glad you guys enjoy school." 

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Leo and Jemma going on rants about everything they learned in school that day. Melinda loves those kids but you can only listen to them explain sciency stuff for so long. She left the kids to hang out in Leo's room and she went to go talk to Phil.

"Hey remember that little girl I was talking to you about yesterday?" She asked Phil as she sat on the couch next to him. He nodded as he put down his book to look at her. "She came into school today half an hour early, no parents in sight and she hadn't eaten breakfast." To Mays surprise Phil looked just as concerned as her. "It gets worse, poor girl had a panic attack in class today, I don't know what's up with her but it's getting really concerning." May hold him. "What are you going to do about it? Have you called her parents yet?" Phil said clearly just as worried about the girl as she was. "I don't know I think I'll see how she is tomorrow before I do anything drastic, it could just be first week of school forgetfulness."


	6. A Little Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye gets a little sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chaoter is maybe longer than the others but im not 100% sure.

A week had gone by since May and Phil's conversation. She'd been watching the girl carefully, she never came to school with anything heavier than a thin hoodie, despite it being mid September. She almost never ate breakfast, and May never saw her parents during dismissal. 

It quickly became routine for Skye to come to school early and Melinda to make sure she ate breakfast every morning. During breakfast Skye never spoke much and when she did it was never about her home life.

One day Skye had come to school with a small bruise on her face. 

Skye came in early like she always did and sat down at her desk. May went over and asked if she had eaten breakfast to which she responded with no. So they got up and walked to the cafeteria. May noticed Skye had kept her head down the whole walk there. It wasn't until she lifted it up that she saw why. 

"Skye what happened to your face?" May went to go inspect the small bruise when the girl flinched away from her. "I won't touch you, but I need to know what happened to your face honey" May backed up a little to give the girl some space. "I-I tripped up the stairs." May wasn't quite sure she believed the girl but she decided not to push. "Ok well how about we go get some ice for your face." They went to the nurses office and she gave the girl a small ice pack.

Despite it happening four days ago May still wasn't quite sure she believed the girls story. She put it out of her mind as she sat at her desk and looked over some of the kids papers.

_________________________________________________

Skye woke up that morning not feeling so great. She was hot but cold her nose was all stuffy and her throat was scratchy. She shrugged it off as being a cold and continued getting dressed for the school as usual. It was taking a little longer cause she was feeling a bit sluggish but eventually she was ready. Luckily for her both Alan and Susanne were sleeping, so she could grab an apple and granola bar before she left.

She ate the apple as she walked to school and somehow the apple made her feel worse. She threw out the core in a trash on the corner of the street and continued. It was getting colder outside and she still only had a hoodie.

Bothering Susanne about getting her a coat seemed pointless, she wouldn't do it. Unlike Alan, Susanne didn't work, she stayed home all day, watching TV in their bedroom or the couch in the living room. Skye wasn't allowed anywhere in the house but the bathroom or her bedroom. They didn't want "a little orphans hands touching all their stuff" she usually had to sneak basically everywhere in the house.

The walk to school took longer then usual but eventually she made it. She was still early and when she walked in it was only Ms.May in there sitting at her desk, looking over some papers. Skye quietly took her seat and laid her head on her desk. She didn't hear Ms.May get up, or her walk towards her, but when she looked up she was right in front of her with a worried look on her face. 

"Skye are you feeling alright?" She asked her. Skye just stayed silent as she shook her head very slowly. She had already been feeling dizzy from walking, she didn't wanna make it worse. "Alright I'm just gonna feel your forehead to check if you're sick." Skye nodded as she let her teacher put a hand to her forehead. "Okay little one you're burning up, we should get you to the nurse." Ms.May stood up as she waited for Skye to stand but she just didn't have the energy to. She just kept her head on the desk. "I'm gonna pick you up now Skye, okay?" Once again she just nodded. She didn't like when people held her or touched her but she wasn't in any mood to put up a fight. Ms.May lifted her onto her hip and Skye laid her head on her shoulder. She found it very hard not to close her eyes and fall asleep.

They entered the nurses office and she was placed onto the little bed they had in there. The nurse took her temperature and found she had a fever of 102.3. She really didn't know she was that sick until the sad look on Ms.Mays face became more visible. The nurse had to call her parents but of course there was no answer. "They w-wont an-answer." Skye told them in a very low voice. "Why not? Did they even know you were sick when they dropped you off?" The nurse had asked. "Th-they're at work." They didn't ask her anymore questions. She wondered what they were gonna do with her, her so called parents weren't answering and they couldn't just let her leave. 

"Okay Skye, here's what's gonna happen, I'm gonna take you to the teachers lounge so you can sleep, while the nurse here tries to get into contact with your parents." Ms.May had told her as she sat down on the little bed with her. Getting some sleep didn't sound too bad. She was worried about going home though, Susanne wasn't going to be too happy when she got all those calls from the school. "Cmon kiddo let's go." Once again Skye didn't move. Her energy has been drained and she felt horrible. "Alright I'm gonna pick you again." Ms.May lifted Skye onto her hip and once again Skye laid her head on her shoulder. This time she let herself fall asleep.

She woke up a few hours later and found she wasn't alone. She was leaning against Ms.May on the small couch in the teachers lounge. "Hey did you sleep okay?" Ms.May had asked her in a very soft and calming voice. Skye simply nodded before adding "Did m-my parents ever answer?" Ms.May shook her head and Skye found herself sitting up. Ms.May got up and went to the mini fridge, when she came back she had a bottle of ginger ale in her hand. "Here I'm not allowed to give you any medicine, but this should help your stomach." She grabbed the bottle and started drinking it carefully. Her teacher sat back down and started speaking again.   
"What did you mean when you said they weren't your parents." Skye had been dreading this question. She didn't like when people knew she didn't have parents. That her own parents didn't want her. Somehow she felt herself trusting her teacher so she told her anyway. "Foster care." She said as she kept her head down. "I'm sorry, you don't need to talk about it if you don't want to. But just so you know, you can tell me anything and I won't judge you for it." Honestly all Skye really wanted right now was a hug, to feel like someone cared, she didn't say anything though she nodded and sipped more of her ginger ale. 

"What about class?" Skye asked her teacher as she remembered it was the middle of the school day and yet Ms.May was still sitting with her. "Don't worry about it, class has a sub, so I can sit with you until your foster parents come." It felt nice to know that she called out if class just so she could sit with her. "Thank you" Skye said as she looked at her teacher. She put her ginger ale down and laid her head on Ms.Mays lap. Usually she would never do anything like this with an adult but she felt safe here. She felt Ms.May start playing with her hair and it felt really nice. "Go to sleep now Xiǎohuā, ill wake you up soon." 

__________________________________________

This sweet little girl who was now sick and asleep on her leg deserved better than to be left at school all day while she was sick. It wasn't fair to her. 

It was nearing the end of the day and Skye's foster parents still hadn't returned any of their calls. She knew that if they didn't come by or answer her calls soon that she'd have to call CPS. But she knew that would only do more harm then good.

She felt Skye move around in her sleep and soon she was awake. Skye looked up at her with her big brown eyes, and bangs in her face. May moved the hair out of the girl's eyes so she could see better. "What time?" the young girl had asked. "It is 3:15" School had ended ten minutes ago and Skye's foster parents still hadn't responded.   
"Skye do you have any other jacket besides your hoodie" The little girl shook her head as she sat up on the couch.   
"Ok I'll go grab you one from the lost and found." She started to get up when she felt a little hand on her wrist. "Don't leave" Skye told her with her small hand still on her. May had never seen Skye like this she was usually very distant and kept to herself most of the time.

May sat back down next to Skye and said "alright I won't leave, but it is the end of the day and you can't stay at school. Do your foster parents have any friends that you can call?" The little girl shook her head and then started looking at the ground. She started speaking in a very quiet voice "I'm sorry"   
"What are you sorry for? Its not your fault your parents aren't here." Skye still wasn't looking at her and she stayed quiet it was obvious she didn't believe what May had told her. At that point all May wanted to do was pick her up and take her home but she couldn't do that, so she opted for the hospital. "Ok Skye since your fever hasn't gone down and I can't give you any medicine, and your foster parents aren't here I'm going to take you to the hospital."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Xiǎohuā -little flower. 
> 
> According to google if its wrong then tell me :)


	7. When May met Susanne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Mays time at the hospital. May gives Skye something important and May finally meets Susanne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short and it took me way longer to write it then it should've :/ Also I really love reading all your guys comments they seriously make my day :)

Skye held Ms.Mays hand as they walked to the parking lot. She didn't really like going to the doctors, they always poked her with needles. They approached a car that looked to have people inside it. Both boys came out of the car, one looked to be a teenager who had dirty blonde curly hair with a green hoodie, and the other was an older guy who had brown hair and was wearing a collared shirt with a tie.   
"Mom who's this?" The younger boy said as he approached. She stepped back and hid behind her teacher's legs.  
"This is Skye she's feeling a bit under the weather and her foster parents are no where to be found. So we are gonna drive her to the doctor." Ms.May said now looking at the older guy. Then she turned to her. "Skye this is my husband Phil and our son Leo."   
"Hi" she said quietly. 

Ms.May sat in the backseat with Skye as Phil and Leo spoke about their day at school. She wondered if this is what a regular family was like.   
"Hey Skye what about you? Do you like animals?" Leo asked her.  
She just nodded, she wasn't in a talking mood she was content with observing and listening. 

They arrived at the hospital and the guys stayed in the car, probably so they wouldn't scare her. Walking in Skye noticed all the doctors running about and people crying over loved ones. They walked up to reception and they were seated to a bed. A doctor came over to check her out.   
"Hey kid so I've been informed you have a fever" The doctor said to her. Then the doctor turned to Ms.May "are you her mom?"   
"oh no im her teacher, her foster parents didn't answer the phone. I did leave them a voicemail that we would be here in case they decide to be capable parents" The doctor started taking her temperature and writing stuff down on her clipboard. 

After twenty minutes Skye heard an oddly familiar voice shouting her name in the hospital.  
"Mary Sue, Mary!" No doubt it was Susanne, at least once a month Susanne decided to show the rest of the world she was a fit mother.   
"Mary Sue what are you doing here with this strange lady, you know you aren't supposed to talk to strangers" Susanne said as she looked at Ms.May  
"My name is Skye" She told her a little annoyed.  
"Oh hi I'm her teacher I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting yet." Ms.May said holding her hand out for her to take it. Susanne ignored it and turned her attention back toward Skye. "Alright come on now let's get you home." Skye nodded not wanting to cause a scene and Susanne walked back toward the reception desk to get discharged papers. 

"Skye, do you know how to use a phone?" Ms.May asked. Skye simply nodded very confused as to where this conversation was going. "Ok here" She reached into her purse and took out a small old track phone and handed it to Skye. "The only number on there is mine, you call me if you're in trouble or hurt or even if you just want to,okay?" Skye nodded putting the phone in her hoodie pocket so that Susanne wouldn't see it.   
"Alright good, I have to go now see you on Monday Xiǎohuā" And with that Ms.May left.

__________________________________________________

While walking back to her car May couldn't help but feel like she shouldn't have left Skye, but she did all she could. She opened the car door, took her seat in the front and put her purse on her lap. That's when she noticed that both her husband and her son were staring at her. "What?"  
"Um you just brought a random sick little girl to the hospital, that's what." Leo told her  
"Yeah lin, what happened to her, where is she." Phil added  
"She's fine her foster mom came to take her home, I gave her my old track phone so she could call me if anything happened."   
"Wait a minute, shes a foster kid? Like I was" Leo said suddenly very interested in the conversation. "Yes she is, but from what it seems like they aren't a great placement." May said as Phil started driving back to their house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you forgot  
> Xiǎohuā- little flower


	8. Xiâohuā

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye isnt sick anymore, more coulson family, and Skyes birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For plot convience i changed skye's birthday or i at least gave her a fake one, i actually like this chapter alot more then the previous one :)

"Twenty missed calls I have twenty missed calls from the school because you're too much of an idiot to not get sick" Susanne said gripping onto Skye's wrist as they walked through the house and up to Skye's room. "You're so lucky they didn't call your social worker" Susanne was now rummaging through the closet in the room. She pulled out an old and used brown jacket. "If you had looked in here instead of being the dumb orphan that you are, you would've found this and not gotten sick" She threw it at Skye and stormed out the room. 

Skye had been feeling a little less sick since the doctor gave her some medicine but nonetheless she still felt like crap. With her luck maybe Susanne would stay away, but no she came back, this time with a small cap of medicine. "Here drink this then stay in here for the weekend, I'm not trying to have your germs on me" She said leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Once she left the room Skye started sobbing silently, just letting her tears falk for awhile.

It'd been a long day so Skye decided to do the homework Ms.May had assigned. Despite hating most adults Skye found herself trusting her, she did give her that phone. Which she took out her jacket pocket and hid under her pillow. Alan and Susanne didn't come in her room often so it was a good place to hide it. Her teacher wasn't like most of the adults she'd met, she didn't blame her for getting sick or not eating breakfast. Instead she helped her out which was nice.

Skye went and laid down in bed a little and ended up falling asleep. 

_____________________________________

After dinner, May,Phil and Leo decided to play a couple board games while they watched some movies. It was something they used to do with Leo every Friday when he was younger, but they didn't do it so much now. "Mom we should play monopoly" Leo said holding the box  
"No because every time we play that you and your father always scam me out of all my money." Mel said as she scrolled through Netflix looking for a movie.

"Soooo are we going to talk about the little girl you basically kidnapped earlier or no?" Leo said as he started putting monopoly away. "Nothing to talk about, she was sick, we took her to the doctor, she went home" Melinda said as she clicked on some random superhero movie. "Cmon mom you can't seriously believe she is okay where she currently lives." Now Leo took a seat on the couch as Phil entered with a bowl of popcorn. "I've gotta agree with the kid Mel, no capable parents let their 6year old walk to school with a fever and a thin hoodie." Phil said as he threw a piece of popcorn into this mouth. "Maybe not but I've done all I can, I'll continue to watch her at school but I can't do much Phil, now what game are we playing?" 

They sat around the coffee table and played scrabble which of course Leo won at. There are so many science words he threw in there that after a while Melinda and Phil just gave up completely and went to bed.

The rest of the weekend went by pretty uneventful. Jemma came over and hung out with Leo like she usually did, Melinda caught up on grading her student's work and looking over their files. She looked at Skye's file and apparently she'd been listed as a "problem child" who "lacked a basic understanding of manners" she was also listed as a "liar with an overactive imagination" she was shocked. How could anyone write about a sweet little girl like that. Then she noticed in the top right of her file that her birthday was on monday. Which of course May had to get her something, the question was what.

_____________________________________

Skye got up at 7am on Monday like she usually did. She brushed her hair, brushed her teeth and got dressed. She put the phone Ms.May had given her into her backpack just in case Alan came into her room. Grabbing the ugly brown coat Susanne had given her she headed out the door. The coat was around three sizes too big but Skye wasn't one to complain and besides she really didn't wanna get sick again.

She walked into Ms.Mays room around ten minutes early as she usually did and plopped down into her seat. She took her coat off and hung it behind her chair. Ms.May came up to her holding a small black box with a ribbon on it. "Here this is for you, Happy birthday" she told her handing her the box. She wasn't aware it was her birthday. In fact she didn't even know if it was her real birthday, her social worker told her they just guessed. 

She grabbed the small box and opened it very carefully. Inside was a chain necklace with a flower pendant. It was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever given her. "Oh no I can't take this it looks pricey." Skye said trying to hand the box back to her teacher. "Nonsense I got it for you, I want you to have it." No one ever really wanted Skye to have things, most people usually took her things. "Can you put it on me please" She asked.  
"Of course turn around." Ms.May crouched down to her level and put the necklace around her neck. "There you go, it looks great on you Xiǎohuā" Ms.May had kept referring to her as that.

She didn't know what it meant but she liked it."what's it mean?" She decided to ask. "It means little flower in Chinese" Ms.May said as she booped her nose. 

All Skye could do was look at her and smile. It was the only time someone gave her a nickname that meant something good and it made her really happy. Feeling overwhelmed with everything Skye started to cry, she wasn't sure if they were happy tears or sad tears but nonetheless she was crying. "Skye, honey what's wrong?" She didn't reply, she kept her head down and stared at the floor. "Can I give you hug?" Skye nodded and wrapped her tiny arms around Ms.Mays neck. Her teacher stood up and started rocking Skye back and forth. Skye wrapped her legs around her and soon stopped crying. She looked up at her teacher and mumbled out. "Thank you" Ms.May smiled at her and said "Anytime Xiâohuā" and then put her down, she moved Skye's bangs out of her face and went back to her desk. After five minutes all the students came rushing in.

Trip and Lincoln were both drawing on pieces of paper and wouldn't show Skye, she was getting annoyed and she kept asking why she couldn't see it and they just said it was a surprise, she rolled her eyes and went back to reading her book.  
"Skye, here you go." Both boys handed her the papers they'd been drawing on and they read: "Happy Birthday, from Tripp and Lincoln." They had been drawing her birthday cards. She looked at them in awe and very carefully put them in her folder. This was definitely going to be her favorite birthday. Throughout the day a few of Skye's classmates had given her hand drawn cards, or pretty pencils and cute erasers, she treasured all of them even if they were just stationary. 

By then end of the day she had collected 12 pencils, and 15 erasers from her classmates. She turned to leave when Ms.May stopped her. "Are your foster parents picking you up today?" As if she could read Skye's mind she added the "and don't lie to me" Skye just looked down and shook her head, of course they weren't coming, they once left her at a mall for two hours. "Alright i don't want you spending your birthday alone, do you wanna hang out with me?, we could go to the movies, head to the park, whatever you wanna do." It was tempting but she didn't want Alan and Susanne to be mad at her, she also didn't want to disappoint her teacher by saying no. Unsure of what to do she shrugged. "Skye do you want to go home?" Ms.May asked in a more serious tone. She really didn't and spending the day with her didn't seem so bad. "No i don't" She said with her eyes still on the floor. "Okay then ill tell your foster parents a field trip ran late" She left and went towards the phone to make that call and Skye sat back down in her chair as she waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decides to be nice to skye today i was feeling generous and i just really wanted to write her birthday


	9. The Best Day Ever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Movie trip, and some more stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't been able to tell I'm really bad a summaries. I don't wanna spoil it, but there is violence in this chapter so you've been warned. I also wrote this at like 2 in the morning so yeahhhh.

"Alright lets go, your foster parents just want you home by eight." Ms.May told her as she grabbed Skye's hand and started heading out the building. They headed towards her car and she saw Ms.Mays husband and son sitting in there along with some other girl she didn't know Ms.May opened the car door and sat down in the backseat with her again. "You guys remember Skye." Ms.May said talking to Leo and Phil. 

"Yes how could we forget, hello Skye." Leo said to her flashing a smile. She waved politely, she turned her attention towards the girl she seemed to be about Leos age. "Who are you?" She asked her. "I'm Jemma I'm Leo's best friend, I've heard a lot about you" she said with a smile

"Guys today is Skye's birthday so we are going to the movies." Ms.May told everyone in the car, to which they all looked ecstatic. Which surprised her, no one had ever been happy it was birthday, no one ever even celebrated her birthday. 

In less then twenty minutes they arrived at the cinema. The car ride had been filled with Jemma and Leo rambling about some science stuff she didn't understand. Nonetheless it was nice, seeing people excited and happy wasn't something she was used to.

Ms.May held her hand as they got tickets for the movie. They let Skye choose what they were going to watch, hesitantly she picked the new Mulan movie. They got popcorn and candy and they even let her get a slushie. They sat down in the middle of the theatre so everyone could see perfectly. Sometime during the movie Skye fell asleep, she didn't mean to it just happened.When she woke up she was in Ms.Mays arms in a dark parking lot.   
"I'm sorry" was the first thing Skye said as she woke up. "For what?"  
"I fell asleep, you spent money for me, and I slept." They were now in the car and everyone else looked just as exhausted as her. This time it was Phil who spoke to her.  
"Aw hey that's alright, we've been meaning to see that movie for awhile, so I was happy to see you picked it." That was enough to reassure her and she ended up falling back asleep. This was definitely the best day ever.

"Skye, hey its time to wake up kiddo, your home" Ms.May was nudging her shoulder gently to wake her. She got up and exited the car as her teacher walked her to the front door. "I'll see you tomorrow okay? Happy birthday Xiǎohuā" She gave her a hug and headed inside and locked the door. She hoped to have more days like today but she knew that was wishful thinking. Soon enough Ms.May and her family would get tired of doing charity work for the orphan and toss her aside like everyone else. 

"What are you doing back early your fake mom get tired of you already?" Alan was sitting on the couch with a beer in his hand as he was usually. "You weren't supposed to be back till 8 its only 6."

She tried to ignore him and head up to her room but was stopped as he stood in front of her, and just like that the best day ever was no longer the best.

"If I see you come back down those stairs for anything, I'll make sure you can't hang out with your little fake mommy ever again." She was sure he was talking about Ms.May and obviously she didn't want that to happen she liked hanging out with her. So without even looking at him she gave him a simple nod and left to her room. 

Once upstairs she changed into a pair of old and well worn pajamas. She started drawing in her notebook and thought back to her birthday from last year. 

She was at St.Agnes when her social worker came up to her wishing her a happy birthday. Once again she didn't even know it was her birthday so she just gave her a faint smile and went back to playing with the old and used toy trains the orphanage had. Then her social worker handed her a brand new stuffed dog, Skye named it Biscuit and held onto it all day. But near the end of the day the older kids spotted her new toy and inevitably destroyed it. They ripped its head off and handed it back to her. They had told her that only babies had stuffed animals, since then she never had another stuffed toy. It was out of pride she never wanted to seem like a baby ever again.

After hours and hours if doing basically nothing but staring out her window and drawing in her notebook she just went to sleep. No matter how badly the day ended it was still one of the better ones, isn't that sad.

Skye woke up in the middle of the night. She checked her alarm clock and it read 3:40am. She really needed to go to the bathroom. The only problem was it was downstairs and that's were Alan was usually sleeping. If she got caught by him it wouldn't end well. Most days when she needed to use the bathroom it was fine but today he was really mad so she assumed that things would be different tonight. She decided to risk it and go anyway.

As she walked down the stairs they creaked after every step. The bathroom was just past the living room. The TV was turned off and she didn't see Alan on the couch so she assumed that meant she was in the all clear. She went to the bathroom and as she was washing her hands she heard the stairs.

He was awake. Knowing there was nothing she could do she excited the bathroom and just stood outside the door. "What the fuck are you doing awake" he said with his voice getting louder every step he took. "I had to pee" Skye said as her whole body shook.

"I told you not to leave your room. Did you not hear me or are you just that much of an idiot" He was yelling now and coming closer. "No but i-" she was cut off by him throwing her on the ground. He stomped on her face and ribs. She was in so much pain that she had stopped fighting it. After ten minutes he stopped and said "Go to your room and I don't wanna see you come out of your room until Wednesday morning." he said kicking her one last time.

She slowly got up as tears fell from her eyes and walked to her room. It took awhile considering the amount of pain she was in. Despite Alan being mad at her all the time, it never got this bad. He never hurt her as bad as today was so, she took out the small track phone Ms.May had given her and dialed her number.

__________________________________

May woke up to her phone ringing. She looked at the time and it was 4 in the morning who could be calling at this time. She answered the phone and heard a crying girl on the other end. 

"Ms.May, I'm- I'm scared" the voice said her heart started racing when she figured out It was Skye.   
"Skye what's wrong are you alright?" She asked knowing she wasn't. "No I'm n-not" she said sniffling.  
"Alright hang on I'm coming to get you." May told her trying to calm her down. "Ok, p-please h-h-hurry" she said,still crying. "Ok hang on I'll be there in ten minutes." May hung up and got out of bed.

"Mel,where are you going? it's four in the morning." Phil said groggily. "It's Skye, she's in trouble, I'm going to get her, go back to bed" May said, kissing his forehead. "Ok Melinda but I'm making pancakes" he said getting up. 

"No Phil stop you don't need to do that" she said feeling bad she woke him up. "No no Its alright that little girl is going to be hungry when she gets here. And anyway Leo loves my pancakes" He said as he got up making his way toward the kitchen.

May grabbed the car keys and rushed out the door. She didn't even change out of her pajamas. In less than ten minutes She was at Skye's house. She pulled out her phone and started texting her:

Hey kiddo I'm outside

Ok 

May put her phone away as she saw the small brown haired girl exit her house. She had a black eye her nose was bleeding and she was still limping. May got out the car and wrapped her into hug. Skye started sobbing into May and hugged her back. She picked her up and held her close, slowly rocking her back and forth to try to calm her down. Then they went back to the car and drove to May's house. "Skye as soon as we get to my house I need to take a look at your injuries." May said keeping her eyes on the road. "Ok" Skye sniffles out. "It's going to be okay,you're safe now" May told her as Skye looked out the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who comments and leaves kudos you guys are great and probably the only reason j continue writing this, I would also like to apologize for not having a set posting schedule I'm very disorganized. :)


	10. Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skyes first night at the Could on residence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter has some Skye and Fitz bonding so look out for that. I'm excited.

After around five minutes of driving they arrived at Ms.Mays house, there were white flowers planted in the front yard. Ms.May really seemed to like flowers. They went inside and the house smelled of pancakes. "Ok Skye how about we get you into a warm bath and then you can eat some pancakes, does that sound good."

Skye nodded and followed her teacher to the bathroom. Ms.May left for a few minutes and Skye sat on the cold floor waiting for her to return. When she came back she had a pair of boys pajamas in her hands.  
"These are for you, they were Leos when he was a little older than you, they're going to fit a little big sorry about that." Ms.May started the bath constantly checking if it was the right temperature, she put in some bubble soap and a rubber ducky. Ms.May turned around as Skye undressed and got into the tub.

"Skye do you wanna tell me what happened earlier?" Ms.May was now sitting on the toilet seat watching Skye. No she definitely didn't want to, but it was probably only a matter of time until she found out. She'd probably blame her for it ,say it was all her fault, that'd what they always told her.  
"I wasn't s'possed to leave my room, but I did"  
"That's not a reason to hurt anyone, there is never a good reason to hurt someone Xiâohuā" Skye simply nodded and started playing with the bubbles in the bath. She couldn't remember the last time she had taken a bath. The nuns at St.Agnes made everyone take showers so they wouldn't take long. "I'm gonna head downstairs to talk to Phil for a minute or two I'll be right back." And with that Ms.May left the bathroom.

_____________________________________

May went downstairs and found Phil sitting at the kitchen counter eating a few of the pancakes he had just made.  
"Mel what are you doing? You just basically kidnapped an 7yr old girl who's all beaten up and bruised, at 4:30 in the morning." He said looking at her as she came closer.  
"I don't know Phil but she can't go back there." 

"Well we need to call the police, or her social worker or someone."  
"Yes and we will, just not today, that little girl needs one day where she isn't worried about the next time she'll have a nice meal or a warm bath." 

After twenty minutes Melinda came down the stairs with a clean and sleepy Skye in her arms, who was wearing Leos old monkey pajamas. She sat her down at the kitchen counter and handed her a small pancake to eat.  
"Thank you" Skye said as she stuffed her face with pancake."This is good" She continued eating as May and Phil looked at Skye and simply smiled.

It only took Skye around 15 minutes to eat and get full. May decided to set up the guest room for her, seeing as she was probably tired. The bed in the guest room had a light blue comforter and the rest of the room was painted a darker blue color. This was the room Jemma usually stayed in when her parents were out of town. 

May started to tuck Skye into bed when she had an idea. She left the room and grabbed a stuffed monkey that Leo no longer played with and brought it back to Skye.  
"Here you go, so you don't have to sleep alone."  
"I'm not a baby" Was all Skye said as she turned her head to look away from May.

"I know that, but this monkey right here doesn't get a lot of cuddles anymore, I imagine he's sad." May said as she handed Skye the monkey and pulled the blanket up to Skye's chest. As May left the room she turned on the little nightlight that was next to the door.  
"Do you want the door open or closed?"  
"Closed please." May closed the door and went across the hall to check on Leo.

She opened his door slightly to see he was still sleeping. His blanket was barley on him and he was half hanging off the bed. May chuckled softly and closed the door again and went back to the kitchen.

Phil was there cleaning up the dishes and storing the other pancakes he had made. 

Melinda adored the fact that Phil seemed to care about Skye just as much as she did. She wasn't surprised about it though. When Leo had first come to live with them Phil did everything he could to make Leo feel loved and welcome. When he found out Leo liked to play soccer he immediately drove to the store to get a soccer net and ball for Leo. They spent almost everyday for two months kicking around that soccer ball.

After the dishes were done it was already 5am. It was clear that neither her or Skye were going to school today. She told the school she wasn't coming in today and then decided to do some Tai Chi. She usually did it on the weekends but during school days she didn't have much time. 

She heard Leo start coming down the stairs, which was weird he was not a morning person.  
"Mom why is Skye sleeping in the guest room?" He said as he rubbed his eyes awake.  
"She called me an hour ago, something...bad happened at her home so I went to get her." She said calmly as she continued with her tai chi.  
"How long is she staying? What happened at her house? Is it safe for her to go back?" Leo asked. He had always been this way, he always needed to know what was going to happen.

"Short answer time all of those questions is… I don't know, but for now she's here and safe. Do you want to go to school today, I'm staying home to look after Skye you can stay too."  
"Nope we just started a really interesting lesson on cell division in science class."  
"Okay, well there's pancakes in the fridge."

______________________________________________

Skye hadn't realized she was screaming until May came rushing in.  
"Skye honey what's wrong." She said with nothing but worry in her voice.

"I had a nightmare, I was back there an-an-and he was h-hurting me again." She managed to sob out. "Hey hey its alright your safe here no one is going to hurt you not anymore" she said as she sat on the bed next to Skye. May had moved to hold Skye in her arms to calm her down. After a few minutes like that May moved to get up but Skye pulled her back down 

"Can you stay till I fall asleep again" she said staring at her.  
"Yeah of course." May said smiling as Skye laid back onto her chest.

Within a minute or two Skye was already back asleep. May smiled at the young girl sleeping so peacefully against her. She felt nothing but guilt as she looked at the girls bruised eye again. May had known her home life wasn't the best ,she should've done something sooner. Just then Phil came walking into the room with a smirk on his face. 

May brought a finger to lips as a single to be quiet.  
"She had a nightmare" She whispered just loud enough for Phil to hear. She continued to speak as he stood in the doorway. "We can't let her go back there Phil."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just had to include Fitzs love for monkeys in this chapter because yes. Feel free to comment about anything I love reading them. :)


	11. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kinda a filler chapter but also not really. Basically the morning after

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was been a little while since I have uploaded an update. Just to clarify no matter how long I will finish this because my biggest pet peeve is unfinished stories.
> 
> Also I changed Skyes age to seven because I realize kids are not eight in first grade :)

Skye woke up in a room she didn't recognize, it wasn't until she saw that she was leaning against Ms.May that the previous night had come back to her. Skye didn't want to get up, she wanted to stay here in bed like this forever. It was warm and safe and nice. She started to feel that Ms May was awake and now looking down at her.

"You stayed" Skye said completely shocked no one had ever stayed with her before. Especially after a nightmare, they usually let her cry in the dark alone.

"Of course I did you asked me too" Ms.May was now running her fingers through Skyes hair.

"No ones ever done that before." 

May clearly didn't know what to say, so she hugged Skye a little closer. It was only then that Skye remembered it was still a school day. 

"Wait what about school, what time is it?" Skye didn't want to miss school, she learned the hard way that too many absences is a one way ticket to a call with her social worker. 

"Relax Xiǎohuā you're not going to school today. Its almost noon." 

"Why" Now she was confused, she wasn't really sure why she needed to not go to school, she felt fine. Other than the slight throbbing because of her bruised eye, but that was something she was used to.

"Today we are going to relax, cmon let's go get some breakfast." 

They got out of bed and Skye grabbed the stuffed monkey Ms.May had given her ,and held onto it as they left the room. Skye hadn't noticed before but the stairs were lined with family photos. Pictures of Ms.May and her husband, a few with some older folks she assumed were her parents, and a couple of Leo playing soccer. They looked happy, in every photo they all looked so happy. 

The pain in her eye grew stronger as a few tears fell. She didn't want to cry right now, her teacher had been nice enough to let her stay for a night and if she saw her being a big baby she would kick her out like the rest. She wiped away her tears and attempted to pull herself together. Before Ms.May turned back to look at her again her tears were gone and she had relaxed her face. A skill she had to use often when social workers needed convincing.

Ms.May pulled out a chair for Skye at the counted as she took out a box of cereal and some milk. She passed the bowl to Skye and took a seat next to her. 

"Skye i know you don't want to talk about it, and you don't have to, but we are going to have to tell your social worker or the police about what happened last night"

"No! We can't, they'll take me away, to a new school, I won't see you again." 

"But Skye I can't let you go back there I'm legally required to report this." 

"I've been through worse, least thats what Ms.Kate says, she says I got issues" Skye said in a way as though it was the most normal thing ever. Ms.Kate was her social worker and she wasn't a very nice one. Eveytime Skye was sent back to St.Agnes Ms.Kate had yelled at her saying 'she placed her with a good family and she was the problem' 

"I'm sorry she told you that. I do still have to report it though" Skyes heart sunk. "But I'll do it tomorrow after school, we can hang out here today and you can stay the night again." Skye smiled at the thought and finished the rest of her cereal. 

Ms.May started walking towards the couch in the living obviously wanting Skye to follow her. But she couldn't, she wouldn't move. She was holding the little stuffed monkey tightly in her arms and she just stood in the kitchen doorway. After a few moments passes Ms.May finally noticed Skye wasn't moving.

"Skye, honey? What's wrong?"

"I'm not allowed in the living room" it was merely a whisper but Ms.May heard it. Skye knew she had heard her cause her confused look turned into a sad one. A look she recognized, it was the look anyone gave her when they found out she had no parents.

Without any hesitation Ms May picked Skye up and sat her down on the couch. Ms May sat down next her and grabbed the TV remote.

"You are allowed anywhere in this house. Now what do you want to watch?" 

They watched almost every Disney movie on Disney+ before Phil appeared from the garage. He had been working on the car I'm there, Skye didnt know why he was working on an old rusty car when they had one that worked perfectly fine.

"Hello Skye, Mel tells me you're going to be staying over tonight. Thats very lucky for you because i am making my very special grilled cheese tonight." Mel? Skye didnt know any Mel.

"Who's Mel?"

"That would be me, its short for Melinda, you can call me Mel or Melinda when we arent in school Skye" Ms.May had said. She nodded and continued watching the movie on the screen. Phil took a seat in one of the armchairs farthest away from Skye, which she appreciated. 

The living room was a nice light gray color almost white, the couches were simple and brown, they had a fireplace on the left of the couch, and the TV was right in front of the couch. The walls were lined with more family photos and paintings. After awhile Phil left to get Leo from school, when they returned they had Leos friend Jemma with them.

Skye was never fond of meeting new people but Jemma and Leo were nice to her. They saw her on the couch and asked if she wanted to join them upstairs. She was hesitant, but she decided to go anyway because you can only watch so many movies. 

She had never been in Leos room but it was filled with posters of space and all kinds of science stuff. There were papers thrown everywhere, and he had a blue beanbag chair in the corner of the room. Leo moved the beanbag to the middle of the room where they were sitting and told Skye she could sit in it. 

"Ya know Skye I was a foster kid too, not all of them were good but eventually I was placed here and I got adopted." Leo said with a smile, Jemma was sitting right beside him doing some homework. Skye had already kind of thought he was adopted he didn't really look anything like Melinda or Phil.

"That monkey used to be mine when I first got here, his name is Fitz" He said pointing to the toy she was still holding.

"I'm sorry, you can have him back" She didn't want him to be upset that she had his monkey. Most kids didn't like to share there things.

"Oh no no, you keep him, he likes you more anyway" 

She hung out with Leo and Jemma for the rest of the day. Jemma kept telling her random facts about the stars and space and how the world worked. Leo was insisting that Jemma was boring the girl, but she wasn't, Skye liked learning about the stars. She always liked the stars , they were the one constant in her life.


	12. Downhill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner time, school , fluff. I'm really bad at summaries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mild description of a panic attack and child abuse, if you find this triggering please read with caution.

Dinner was going great. They actually sat in the dinning room which Skye was told wasn't used often. They needed to get pillow for her to sit on so that she could actually reach the table. This was one of the few times Skye had, had an actual good dinner. Most times she was eating whatever small snack she could find without getting caught. Sometimes Susanne made her a sandwich but that wasn't very often. This was also one of the few times she actually sat at a table to eat. 

The Coulsons plus Jemma all fell into conversation while eating. It was clear it was something they did a lot. Nothing serious, just about thier days and plans for the next few days, she must of spaced out for a minute because when she came back to her senses she realized Jemma had been calling her name.  
"What, sorry"

"Oh no worries Skye I just asked what your favorite color was, I have some jackets I've been meaning to give away, they might fit you." Jemma sounded a little strange when she spoke, she didnt talk like Mel or anyone else she's ever met.

"Its blue" she paused for a moment "you talk strange" 

"I suppose I do, I'm not from America, but rather England." 

"Thats cool" she spoke quietly.

Everyone had finished dinner and Skye was bringing her plate and cup over to the sink when she dropped the plate and it shattered. Everyone looked over her to see what had happened. Her breath quickened and her eyes started filling up with tears. Phil had started walking closer to her and that only made her panic more. She ran into a corner of the room and pulled her knee up to her chest. Covering her ears and closing her eyes she started rocking back and forth, still finding it increasingly hard to breath. She felt like she was drowning. That tears that were in her eyes fell and she sobbed a little harder.

"Skye, can you open your eyes for me." When she opened her eyes she found that everyone else had left the kitchen and it was only her and Melinda. She was sitting in front of her speaking in the calm voice she always speak in. "Copy my breathing. In for three, out for three" 

Skye did her best to follow the instructions being given to her and after a few minutes she finally calmed down and could breathe again. "I'm sorry" she spoke in a whisper as she wiped a few stray tears from her eyes.

"You have no reason to be sorry Xiǎohuā" 

"I thought it was going to be like last time." She cringed as she remembered the last time she broke something. "They were nice, then I broke a cup, they weren't so nice after that" she sniffles.

"What happened last time?"

"They-- hurt me an-and I wasn't s'possed to leave my room for a ha while" she barely managed to say.

"Listen to me, that'll never happen here. I'm more concerned about you than our plates." Melinda stood up and held out her arms for Skye. "Cmon its getting late, and we have school tomorrow."

Skye stood up and Mel hoisted her onto her hip. Feeling extremely exhausted from her meltdown Skye laid her head on Melindas shoulder. They passed the living room on their way upstairs and Skye saw that everyone was peacefully watching a movie as if nothing happened. They all told her goodnight and hoped she felt better, and then Melinda kept walking upstairs.

She was placed onto the bed and got under the covers as Mel pulled them up to her shoulders. She turned to leave the room when Skye spoke up. "Can you bring me Fitz, I left him downstairs" She didn't want her little monkey to think she forgot about him.

Ms.May turned around and smiled. "Of course honey I'll be right back." She came back and handed the little stuffed monkey to Skye. She cuddled close to it and Mel leant down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "Get some sleep Xiǎo jiāhuo" She closed her eyes feeling a little embarrassed about what happened. Though nobody seemed mad at her, she really didn't understand why no one was mad. 

_____________________________

May went back down stairs and sat down with everyone else. "Jemma, will you be staying over or do you need a ride home?" 

"No my mother is coming to get me soon. Is Skye alright." 

"Yeah she's okay, she's asleep." 

"Mom whats going to happen to her?" Leo asked

She hadn't really thought that far ahead. All she knew was that she needed to keep her safe and make sure she was okay. If her social worker dragged her to another school she couldn't do that.

"Truthfully im not sure, there's a chance that her social worker comes and she stays where she is, or she gets moved someplace else not in the school district and I cant look out for her anymore. Neither ones are good options." She'd only met the girl a month ago and she already cared so deeply for her. The thought that she wasn't in a good place terrified her.

"Well, there is another option." Phil spoke out. Everyone looked to him and Melinda already had an idea of what he was going to say. "We could renew our foster license, that way she could stay with us." 

"I'll talk to Skye about it after school and we'll see if its something she wants, I'm not going to force her into anything" 

After a few hours Jemma went home and Fitz retreated to his room to finish some homework. Melinda was still on the couch but now with a thin blanket over her and a book in her hand. She had a cup of tea on the coffee table and Phil was sitting next to her. He had been watching some strange superhero movie. He was literally a walking advertisement for Captain America. 

While reading her mind couldn't help but wander back to the small child sleeping upstairs. Skye didn't deserve any of what happened to her. Maybe fostering her wouldn't be such a bad idea, Skye did seem to trust her and it was clear she didn't want to change schools. They already had an extra bedroom and foster experience thanks to Leo. 

The next morning May decide to wake up a little bit earlier so that she could get Skye ready for school. She got up before Phil did and got dressed. A simple black t-shirt and jeans was what she went with. She made her way over to the guestroom to wake Skye. As she opened the door she saw the young girl cuddled close to the little monkey with her face buried in the blanket. She looked so peacefully and relaxed, May couldn't help but smile at the sight.

_____________________________

Skye felt a hand softly shaking her and a voice talking to her calmly. "Xiǎohuā its time to get up" she heard. She opened her eyes and it was Melinda crouched down next to the bed smiling at her. "Good morning, we need to get ready for school now." Ms. May always spoke in a soft calm voice, which Skye found soothing. 

Skye slowly sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes awake. She wasn't exactly sure what to do next, she didn't have any clothes or her backpack or really anything. "I don't have my backpack." She said staring at Melinda.

"Thats okay I don't think your teacher will mind," She smiled at her then stood up. "We have extra toothbrushes in the bathroom you can use, as for clothes, I found some of Leo's old stuff." 

Skye nodded and moved to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth then changed into the clothes Melinda gave her. It was a long sleeved shirt with a robot on the front and a pair of jeans. They were too big so she needed to roll them up at the bottom. When she walked out of the bathroom she saw Leo in the hallway waiting to use it. 

"Cute shirt". He said as he walked into the bathroom. 

She smiled then walked downstairs and found Mel sitting on the couch reading some book. Skye approached slowly and started speaking. "Melinda" She looked up from her book. "Can you brush my hair?, I don't do it right" 

Melinda smiled softly and nodded, motioning for Skye to sit in front of her. Skye handed her the brush and sat down. Ms.May didn't pull on her hair like Susanne did, she brushed it slowly and gently, which was a nice change.

"Let's get you some cereal. I'm sure Leo and Phil will be downstairs soon."

Suddenly feeling self conscious and a bit embarrassed about last night she spoke. "Is Phil mad at me?"

"Of course not why would he be mad at you?" Skye shrugged and looked at the floor. "Nobody is mad at you, if you want you can ask him yourself."

She didn't understand why they were being so nice to her. It didn't make sense they had no reason to be. They weren't mad at her for things clearly her fault and they never yelled and she didn't get it. 

"Why are you being so nice to me?" 

Melinda looked a little caught off guard at the question but responded anyway. " Because I care about you and I want to make sure you're safe" 

"You shouldn't, I'm not a good kid" Everyone she's ever met had told her she was a bad kid, sooner or later she started believing it.

"Hey, you're not a bad kid Skye, and anyone who told you so is wrong." Skye didn't really believe her but she nodded anyway, not really wanting the conversation to continue. 

They sat down at the counter and Melinda got her a bowl of fruity pebbles. Soon both Leo and Phil joined them and they all ate breakfast and spoke of their plans for the day. Just like dinner she could tell they did this kind of thing every morning. Leo talked about a science project he was doing with Jemma and Phil was rather excited about some history facts.

"Skye what kind of sandwich do you want for lunch?" She just kinda shrugged I'm response. Susanne just made her whatever they had which was usually peanut butter. "Do you like ham and cheese?" She nodded and finished her cereal. She watched as Ms.May made her sandwich and put it into a brown bag along with a juice box and a small bag if chips. She handed her bag and then made Leo and Phil each a sandwich.

The car ride to school was quiet until Phil turned on the radio and started playing Taylor Swift. He started to drum his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove which was pretty funny. Skye started humming along to the song and before she knew it they were in front of the school.

"Bye Skye, have a good day" Leo said as she got out the car. She looked back at him and smiled. "You too"

They walked into the building and the school day started as usual. She sat at her desk and Ms.May handed her a worksheet. Pretty soon the classroom began filling up with students and both Trip and Lincoln were Noe sitting next to her.  
"You weren't here yesterday, why?" Trip asked

She couldn't really answer that question honestly cause it would freak him out and she didnt want to freak him out. So she kept her eyes on her paper and shrugged. "Where's your backpack?" He asked. She shrugged again. He asked a lot of questions.

"Is Ms.May your mom?" He asked again. That made her look up from her paper. "No, why would you ask that?"  
"You guys kinda look alike and both times you were absent so was she" 

It made sense why he would think that, but the question made her a little bit frustrated. She hated explaining that she didnt have a mom she found it just made people sad. Lincoln wasn't paying any attention to the conversation they were having he was just focusing on his paper.

"She's not my mom, i don't have a mom" she said it kinda fast in hopes he wouldn't hear but he did and so did Lincoln.

"Everyone has a mom" Lincoln said. She really couldn't blame them for thinking like that they had moms they didn't get it. They didnt talk about it for the rest of the day. She didnt answer any more questions they had she just ignored them. Which probably wasn't the best choice because they kept bugging her. They quickly gave up after they realized she wasn't going to respond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still not sure about whether or not I should leave the title "work in progress" or if I should change it, if you have any suggestions feel free to comment them :)
> 
> Xiǎohuā- little flower  
> Xiǎo jiāhuo-little one


	13. When May met Ms.Kate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The social worker gets called YAY :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i really dont know the legalities of foster care or adoption so pretty much everything i write might be false but thats fine we are just gonna roll with it :)

The school day had ended and May had started dismissing students. She looked through the crowd and saw that Skye was trying to sneak away. "Skye, where do you think you're going"

"im going home."

May got down do that she was eye level with Skye and took her hands. "Skye you are not going back there, they are not very nice people." 

"It wouldn't be the first time i stayed with not nice people, ill be fine"

Melinda's heart broke, Skye was so young and already had given up on being somewhere safe. May stood up and motioned for Skye to follow. They were back in her now empty classroom. "Skye do you know the number for your social worker, did she give you a card or anything?" 

"She did but its back at Susanne and Alan's house. But its fine you don't need to call Ms.Kate ill be okay." Skye said ducking her head down a little bit.

"Skye, honey i cant and i wont let you go back there, im going to call Child Protective Services" 

Melinda had to google the number but she eventually found it. She spoke on the phone for around fifteen minutes and she had started getting a bit frustrated. They kept asking if she was sure she knew what happened and a bunch of other stupid questions. After a few more minuets on the phone they said they were going to send someone over along with Skye's social worker.

As they waited Melinda and Skye sat on the carpet as Mel read her a book. Skye kept scooting closer so that she could see the pictures she was eventually so close that she was leaning against May. Which she found incredibly endearing.

One month and this little girl had already stolen her heart. It reminded her of when they met Leo. Phil and her had been thinking about adopting so they filled out all the papers and forms for foster care. They went to the orphanage Leo was at and took a look around the place. They spoke with some other kids before finding Leo reading a rather big book for a ten year old. They had asked him why he was alone and he said that he just enjoyed reading his book in quiet. He soon went on a rant about all the things he had learned and read about and that's when they knew they had to take him home with them.

There was a knock on the classroom door,Melinda and Skye both stood to see who was there. It was a man and a woman both dressed rather formally.  
"Good evening i'm Mr.Mink with Cps" He pointed towards the woman "This is Ms Kate, we're here about a report against Susanne and Alan Canhill"

"Mary Sue what lies have you been telling this poor woman." Ms.Kate turned to Melinda "im so sorry, this child has a bad habit of lying" She said looking directly at Skye who was now hiding behind Melinda's leg

"Her name is Skye, and she hasn't been lying to me, shes very clearly not being treated well at the Canhill household" Melinda said trying to keep her calm. This woman had been in here for all of five seconds and she was already getting on her nerves.

"Well i cant determine whether or not that's true without the foster parents present." Ms.Kate said

"I've already called them 4 times in the last hour they haven't responded. The sane thing happened last week when Skye came to school with a fever because she didn't have a coat." Melinda was trying her very hardest to stay calm when all this lady wanted was to bad mouth Skye.

This time it was Mr.Mink who spoke and he spoke to Skye. "Mary Sue is this true? i need you to be honest otherwise i cant help you. Do the Canhils treat you badly, do they ever hurt you" Melinda felt Skye nod her head against her leg.

"I believe her, this isn't exactly the first time the Canhills had a complaint filed against them. " Mr.Mink said to Ms.Kate to which she rolled her eyes. Honestly is Melinda was given five minutes with her, she was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of Mr.Mink speaking again. "Okay so we will take Mary Sue-" "Skye" May corrected him. "Well take Skye back to St.Agnes while we try to find her a better placement."

"She can come stay with me." Melinda spoke out, which made Skye look up at her with a look of confusion and shock.

"Maam with all due respect thats not how this works. You cant just take her home with you, you need a foster license"

"Which I have from my sons adoption"

"Okay well we will still need to take her while we check over and make sure everything you're saying is true. If all goes well you can have her in your custody tomorrow." Mr.Mink said. "We'll be in the hallway while you guys say your goodbyes."

They left the room leaving Skye and Melinda alone. Melinda bent down to Skyes level so she could she her better. She moved a piece of her bangs out of her eyes, and smiled. "Skye, i promise im going to come get you as soon as i can okay?" The little girl nodded and kept her eyes to the floor, she almost never looked at Melinda directly, especially when she waa about to cry.

May took her hand and lifted up Skyes chin so they were now looking each other in the eye. "I have something for you Xiâohuā" Melinda stood up went to her purse, to which she pulled out Fitz the monkey. Melinda wasnt stupid she knew there was a good chance Skye would be taken away, she wanted to make sure she had something nice to cuddle while she was away. She walked back to Skye and handed her the stuffed toy and watched her eyes light up.

"Ill take very good care of him." Skye said as she held it close

"I dont doubt you will." Melinda smiled and pulled her into a hug.

"Thanks you for caring" The small girl mumbled out.

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Skye had to go. Ms.Kate gave her number to Melinda and left. As she watched them leave Melinda felt a hole in her heart. If one thing was certain it was that she was going to get Skye back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to comment about anything i love reading then :)


	14. Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I suck at summaries so just read it :/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry chirstmas to those who celebrate it and hapoy holidays to those who dont :)

Moving around from place to place was something Skye had been used to, so when Ms.May called cps and they took her away she wasn't surprised, she wasn't even all that sad.To put it simply she was used to it. Used to having hope someone wanted her only to be left disapointed when they eventually brought her back. She stopped asking why a long time ago.

She was sat in the backseat of a small car with her trashbag full of all her personal belongings. Mr.Mink and Ms.Kate had brought her to the Canhill's so that she could get her things, now they were on thier way back to St.Agnes. She didn't want to think about how Ms.May said she was going to come for her, she didn't believe she was going to. Instead she hugged Fitz in her lap and tried to focus on anything else. Maybe if Skye was lucky that stupid girl Susan would be gone. Susan was only two years older than her but was always mean to Skye. She'd pull her hair or make fun of how she looked. 

They parked the car in front of the familiar and old building Skye had grown used to seeing, and of course the first thing she noticed was stupid Susan's face smirking in the window. 

She grabbed her trashbag of stuff and Fitz and went inside the building and Susan was there to greet her.

"Back again, are you poots?" 

Skye rolled her eyes and shoved past her trying to get to the bedroom, but of course stupid Susan followed her. 

"Hey at least you lasted there longer than i thought, i guess they finally realized just how ugly you are." Susan smirked trying to get a reaction out of Skye. Skye had been through this enough times to know that if she stood up for herself she'd get in trouble. "Cute monkey i think it'd look alot better if his arm was gone though." And as fast as Susan said that was as fast as she ripped the stuffed monkey from Skye's hands.

"Stop it, give it back, he's not yours" She pleaded trying to reach for him. That wouldn't work seeing as Susan was a good foot taller than her. 

"Or what is little baby Mary gonna cry, oh well the nuns won't believe anything you tell them" And just like that she ripped the monkeys arm off and dropped it to the ground.

Skye rushed over to grab it and she carefully put the now mangled plush into her trash bag of things, trying her hardest to hold back tears. She was not going to cry in front of stupid Susan. She got up and walked to the bedrooms.

Opening the door she was instantly hit with a feeling of familiarity. There was nothing in the room but three bunk beds and three dressers. The room was stone grey and had hardwood floors.

"Home sweet home" She mumbled to herself as she threw herself on one of the beds and reluctantly feel asleep.

________________________________________________

May was determined to get Skye back. The little girl had only been gone for a few hours and she already worried for her well being. Unfortunately for her Ms.Kate was right and there was nothing she could do right now. Her foster license was in the process of being approved and by tomorrow morning Skye would be in her custody.

Phil, Leo and her were all driving home in the quiet of the ride when Leo finally spoke up.

"Mom, if Skye is going to stay with us we should get her some things to make her feel more at home." Her heart beamed when he said that, she knew that Leo wouldn't mind Skye staying with them but seeing him openly accepting it was sweet.

"You know what thats a great idea, maybe she'll like a new Captain America book."

"Phil, she's seven im not quite sure she's as obessed with Captain America as you are." Melinda replied

"Im not obsessed with him Mel."

"Dad you own an entire completed collection of vintage Captain America cards that you spent years collecting." Leo chimed in.

They pulled into a target parking lot and made there way inside the store. Leo took charge of driving the cart and they all started heading towards the room decor section. They picked up a soft light blue blanket, a night light in the shape of a hula dancer, a few stuffed animals, and Leo insisted they get a sign for her room door. The sign was painted a pastel pink color and had a castle on it. In a darker purple color written in a Disney font wrote the word 'princess'. They also picked up a beanbag chair remembering that Skye liked the one in Leo's room.

They all got home and set up the room for Skye. Placing the hula dancer on the bedside table and the beanbag at the end of the bed. They hung up the sign proudly on the door and then crashed on the couch. Jemma came over not long after finishing the room, she had brought some of her old jackets and sweatshirts for Skye. 

"So Jemma, Leo, hows the science project going?"May asked the teens despite having no interest in it whatsoever. She just liked hearing them ramble about things they loved.

"Oh its going wonderfully, we are almost done with our model of DNA, we are doing our science project on how humans have evolved over time" Jemma looked more excited than a kid on Christmas.

"Im glad you guys enjoy that science stuff, Jemma are you staying the night? Its fine if you do just make sure you're ready for school tomorrow"

"Can i? My parents work late tonight and i don't really wanna be home alone." Jemmas parents were both doctors and often they worked overnight, leaving Jemma alone to fend for herself. Her parents were lovely people but they sometimes forget that their daughter is only 13.

"Of course Jemma you're always welcome here." Mel shot her a quick smile and headed off to bed. 

It had been a long day of shopping. Tomorrow would only be more stressful, because if everything was in order she would come home with a very small and very traumatized seven year old. She got into pajamas and saw that Phil was already in bed, he was reading some book on WW2 but as soon as he saw her he put is book down on the bedside table. He pulled her in close and she laid her head on his chest and blissfully fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see this was supposed to be possted yesterday but i got side tracked. Sorry bout that ㋛︎


	15. Oops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mays meets with Ms.Kate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long major writers block with this chapter. :/

May woke up earlier than usual, she wanted to relax by doing some tai chi before her meeting Ms.Kate. It was only five thirty so there was no point in waking up Jemma and Leo but she went to check on them anyway. She opened the door to his room and found Jemma asleep in his bed while Leo was beside her on the air mattress. It had always been clear to her that Leo had a slight crush on Jemma, she saw it in the little things he did for her. When he would make sure she ate enough breakfast or was never cold during December.

She had exactly one hour to herself before everyone else was awake. Phil started looking over some history papers he had given his students, Jemma and Leo were doing the finishing touches on their science project. 

They were off schedule by about five minutes so everybody was rushing to get there stuff in the car and off to school. They had all been a little bit on edge amd anxious due to Mays meeting later in the day.

Once arriving to school Melinda walked into her unusally empty classroom. Usually May made sure to get to class a little bit early so she could make sure Skye ate some breakfast but today she was alone. However Skye was not there today. 

Class went on as usual, she taught the kids how to read and write and do simple addition. Sometime during her lesson Trip and Lincoln called her over. She walked over to the two boys to see if they needed help with anything.

"Do you guys need help anything?" She asked in a soft tone.

"Nope, we wanna know where Skye is" Trip said pointing to her empty chair, as Lincoln nodded along.

She wasn't quite sure what to tell them, it wasn't her business to say Skye was a foster kid. 

"I..um... I wouldn't know, maybe she is sick" 

"No she can't be sick, she was sick last week." Lincoln said.

Of course little first graders would think that way.

"She's absent a lot. She said she didnt have a mom, how can someone not have a mom?" Trip said his eyes beaming with curiosity and confusion.

May really wasn't in the mood to explain to seven year olds that sometimes your parents suck and don't want you. They didn't need to know that, at least not yet. May would let them deal with the harsh realities of the world when they reached second grade. As of now she just made sure they still believed in Santa Clause and the Tooth fairy

"Your guess is as good as mine kid" she said faking a look of confusion. "but why don't we focus on our math work. I'm sure Skye will be back soon. If you finish your work you can make her a picture so she knows you missed her, does that sound fair?"

The boys nodded eagerly and went straight back to there work. Trip and Lincoln were good kids, they were quiet most of the time and usually did what was asked. Her only issue was that they had a tendency to argue over little things, mainly because of Lincoln being a sore loser over some game.

_____________________

Skye woke up on the uncomfortably lumpy bed and rubbed her eyes. She looked around as she remembered the events of yesterday. She sighed and hopped off the bed trying to make her way downstairs for breakfast. Skye was stopped at the top of the stairs by stupid Susan. It was way to early to be dealing with her nonsense so she tried to push past her.

"I see the rugrat is finally awake, what's wrong was the little baby not able to sleep without her toy." Susan laughed at her own jokes. 

Skye took a breath trying not to get angry and just stared at her, she wasn't going to say anything, she found that when she said nothing stupid Susan got bored.

"This is probably why all the other families hit you, cause you're worthless." Susans eyes were taken off of Skyes face but landed on her flower necklace. "Cute necklace surely an ugly kid like you doesn't deserve that." She reached for the necklace but without a second thought Skye pushed her down the stairs. Susan had been caught so off guard she actually fell down all the steps. 

Skye decided that whatever punishment the nuns gave her would be worth it, seeing Susan roll down the stairs was the highlight of her life. Skye walked down the stairs and met Susan at the bottom of them. She got down close to the girl on the floor and said "oops" and smiled to herself as she skipped to the cafeteria.

She ate her breakfast, which was nothing special just some oatmeal and orange juice. It wasn't anywhere as good as Phil's pancakes. She missed Ms.May the most, she took care of her when she was sick and made sure she ate breakfast, she even gave her that phone so she coukd call her. Skye missed being with them and all she wanted was to go back, unfortunately good things don't happen to her and she had to move on. 

_____________________

Melinda was dismissing all of her students when Trip came up to her holding two pieces of paper in his hand. He held the first one up to her and it was a drawing of him and Skye smiling on the playground.

"Can you give it to Skye please? I won't be here tomorrow, i have to see the dumb dentist." He said handing her the second sheet if paper saying just that.

"I'll make sure she gets it." She smiled then saw his mom and handed him off to her. 

Once the rest of the kids were gone she went back into her classroom and awaited Ms.Kate's arrival. She put Trips drawing into a folder and carefully put it into her bag. She decided to occupy her time by reading some book Phil had gotten her for Christmas last year, she wasn't too fond of it but Phil was really proud of his selection so she was determined to finish it.

A few minutes went by and she heard a knock at the door. She opened it to find a blonde fairly skinny woman in a pantsuit. Ms.Kate. Melinda stepped to the side and lead her to a chair across from her desk.

"So lets get straight to it, your license was approved by the state, so you can have Mary Sue in your custody I just need you to sign a few forms." Ms.Kate said unpacking her bag and laying out a few forms on her desk. "Let me remind you that this is just fostering so if you feel the need you can always call me and I'll pick her right up."

May honestly couldn't believe this woman. She was supposed to want people want Skye, she was definitely not supposed to be telling them it was okay to bring her back.

"Okay first of all her name is Skye, you as her social worker should address her as what she is comfortable with instead of making her feel worse. Second of all I won't be bringing Skye back any time soon, you of all people should be happy I want her in my family" 

"You can address her as Skye but her legal documents still need to say Mary sue. And believe me I want her happy but she seems to cause trouble everywhere she goes" 

May signed all the necessary forms and got through the rest of the meeting without punching Ms.Kate in the face. The way she kept taking passive aggressive hits at Skye was really getting on her nerves. She choked down some smart remarks and stayed silent.

"Okay so I can drop Skye off at your house in about an hour, I assume you'll be ready by then?"

"Yes, everything is prepared and I hate to sound rude but my husband and son are waiting in the parking lot so I've really got to go."

"Well then I'll see you in an hour, have a nice day Ms.Coulson"

They went there separate ways as she walked to the car. All her nervousness from earlier had disappeared and now she was just happy that pretty soon Skye would be back and safe with them. 

"So whats the status of the princess?" Phil said

"She'll be arriving in an hour" 

"Oh thats so cool, do you guys think I'll be good brother?"Leo said from the backseat

"I think you'll be a great big brother kiddo" May said as she reached back to mess up his hair.

"Mom!" He said desperately trying to fix what she just did.

They laughed and drove home as they thought of all the things they were going to do when Skye got there. Phil was going to watch the Captian America movies with her, and Leo wanted to teach her about the actual sky.


	16. Grilled Cheese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye is finally moving in. Leo being a great brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually really enjoy this chapter cause like Leo being a great brother has my heart. :)

Skye had spent all of breakfast and lunch avoiding Susan. Which was really easy considering she told the nuns Skye had pushed her and now she wasn't allowed to leave the bedroom. Surprisingly Skye was fine with it, it wasn't the first time she had been told to stay in a room by herself. 

She was sitting upright on the creaky old bed she had taken residence on, while she was trying to find a way to put Fitz's arm back on his body. She found some tape in a dresser and used it to put his arm back on, it wasn't the best but it would do. 

The day went by extremely slowly, a couple girls kept going in and out of the room she was in. The nuns said she'd need to transfer back to the homeschooling St.Agnes offered so Skye found no point in doing Ms.Mays homework. 

There was a knock on the door and it her social worker Ms.Kate, she had that same aggravated expression she always had, and the boring pantsuit she always wore. "Mary Sue grab your things you're leaving." She was standing in the doorway looking impatient as always, Ms.Kate always looked like she was running late even if she was early.

"Where am I going now." Skye said as she grabbed her stuff, she didn't bother unpackin, she new if she did people would just take her things. Not that there was much to take.

"Somebody wants to foster you, I have a feeling you're really going to like them." Ms.Kate had said in an unusualy soft voice.

Skye simply shrugged and mumbled out "thats what you said last time" and started following Ms.Kate downstairs. Ms.Kate needed to fill out some paperwork with the nuns so she left Skye in the lobby to wait. Thats when Susan came up to her limping. Skye almost burst into a fit of laughter after at the sight.

"Where are you going poops, are they finally leaving you on the side of the road where you belong" Susan said with an annoyingly smug look on her face.

Skye ignored her and went up to one of the windows to look out of. The view was anything but nice but it was still something to look at. 

"Alright Mary Sue kewts get going." Ms.Kate said. Despite telling her over and over again she never called her Skye.

"My name is Skye." She huffed out as they entered the car.

The drive was quiet, like they always were. It was necessarily a bad thing. Skye starred out the window watching all the houses as they drove by them. She used to imagine the kinds of families that were in the houses, whether they were big or small or even happy. She wondered if her new fosters would like her, she always did. They weren't all bad some were nice, unfortunately the nice ones were usually the ones to give her up the quickest.

As the car started slowing down she started to recognize where they were. They were on Ms.Mays block. Then they were pulling into there driveway. She honestly didnt know what to think, she thought it was Ms.Kate playing some sick joke on her.

"Are you going to get out of the car?" Ms.Kate said as she opened the car door for Skye. Skye was still buckled in her seat with her bag on her lap not moving. Truthfully she didn't wanna get out the car. But she pushed the thought aside and forced herself out of the car. Once inside the house she saw everyone sitting on the couch very obviously they had been waiting for her. Melinda walked up to her first and knelt to her level.

"Hey Skye, I told you I'd come get you. Can I give you hug?" She said. Skye simply nodded. Once May had her arms wrapped around her Skye melted into the hug and let out a breathe she didnt know she had been holding.

"Alright Mary i have to go now, you have my card in case of anything." Ms.Kate said. Not wanting to break contact with Melinda just yet she nodded against her shoulder. Ms.Kate left and everyone was just standing around in the living room, it was clear they didnt know what to do next. Finally after an uncomfortable amount of silence Leo spoke.

"Do you wanna see your room, we decorated it for you" He said excitedly only taking a few steps forward.

"Yes please" she mumbled into Melindas shirt. Melinda stood up with Skye still in arms and they all started to head upstairs. Once at the door of what once was the guest room she immediately noticed the sign they put on the door. She smiled and they opened the door. May put Skye down so that she could explore the room for herself. 

She went to the bed first to get a closer look at what was on it.There were now a bunch of brand new stuffed animals sitting on the once lonely bed. At the end of it there was a blanket folded nearly with a bunch of captain america shields on it. She ran hsr hand up and down the soft fleece blanket and smiled to herself. Then moved on to the opposite side of the room to where there was a beanbag. One just like the one in Leos room.

"Leo we match now" she said either a big grin on her face as she plopped down into the chair. 

"Yeah i thought you'd like that princess." 

She miles at the nickname and then remembered about the plush toy stupid Susan ripped apart. Without saying anything she ran downstairs to where her bag was. She looked through it for a minute before finding the toy. She came back upstairs and slowly approached Leo holding out the monkey.

"I'm sorry Leo, Susan broke Fitz, I tried to fix him but it did not help" 

He knelt down to her height and gently grabbed the monkey from her hands

"This is nothing I once accidentally ripped his head off" He pointed to a faint and worn out old stitch under its neck "We can just sew it back on and he'll be good as new." He smiled and handed Fitz back to her.

"Jemma brought some shirts and jackets for you if you wanna try some on." He stood up and walked towards the dresser. She walked over next to him and pulled out a red jean jacket. She out it on and the sleeves were about three times longer than her arms. Leo rolled up the sleeves and she looked into the full body mirror next to the dresser. She smiled as she looked at herself she almost looked normal. If it weren't for her ratty knotty hair and her eyes that seemed to be filled with anything but happiness she almost looked like a regular kid, if you didnt look at her for too long. They looked through some more of the clothes as May and Phil sat on the bed watching them have a small fashion show.

"Okay today is all about you Skye, so what do you want for dinner." Phil asked her.

"Anything is okay" She learned pretty quickly to accept whatever food she was given.

"That may be true but what is your favorite food, I want to make it for you." He said wtih a smile.

She thought for a minute before answer. "Mmmm grilled cheese?" She wasn't sure if Phil was actually willing to make it for her so she choose simple. 

"Alright then grilled cheese it is"

Skye spent the rest of the afternoon in her new room. Leo brought up the rest of her stuff, which wasn't much and they hung out in her room for a little while. He showed her how to sew up Fitz's arm and he got out some spare fabric and made him a little black hat. 

They went downstairs and sat down on the couch with Melinda and decided to watch a movie. They put on mulan and Skye was sandwiched between May and Leo and she couldn't be happier. Phil cooked up the grilled cheeses and they all ate dinner in the living room. She started feeling a little tired when May said it was time for bed. 

They went upstairs and Mel told her to brush her teeth and change into some pajamas. She got under her covers and cuddled close to Fitz. Melinda ledt the room then came back with a piece of paper in her hand. She sat down on Skye's bed and handed it to her. It was a drawing by Trip of the two of them playing. 

"Can i hang it up?" She asked Melinda. To which she responded by getting up and grabbing some tape so that Skye could take it above the bedside table. Melinda tucked her back in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She headed for the door before stopping. "Open or closed?" 

"Closed please."

"Alright sleep well Xiǎohuā I'll see you in the morning" Melinda closed the door and left. 

Skye stayed awake staring at her ceiling thinking of the day that had just happened. She looked around her room and decided she was going to try her hardest to make sure they didnt give her away. For the first time in a very long time Skye actually had hope things would turn out okay. She let hersekf doze off into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was literally working on this for like three days so like super sorry bout that did not mean to take that long.


	17. Captian America

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *insert summary here* :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally wrote Phil and Skye yaaaaay bonding :D

The next few days went by pretty smoothly, everyone got up for school with no complaints and Skye hadn't had any panic attacks since she cane home. May did notice that she had been acting suspiciously well behaved. It was obviously from the years of trauma and stress this girl had been put through but May just wanted her to get out of her shell a little bit. 

It was around 3am on a Thursday night when Melinda woke to the sounds of crying. They weren't loud enough to wake up anyone but her considering how light of a sleeper she was. She got out of bed and went to go check on Skye,as she opened the door she didn't see Skye in her bed and started freaking out a little.

"Skye, Skye, honey where'd you go?" She called out looking around the room for her. She followed the sounds of crying to the closet, she opened it and found little Skye wrapped up in her Captain America blanket holding onto Fitz as she cried. "Honey are you alright,why are you in the closet?"

"I- um I got s-scared and the r-room is big and d-dark, closet is s-smaller" Skye said in between sobs.

"You could've come to Me or Phil if you were scared."

"I dont wanna bother you"  
You're not bothering us. Do you wanna come sleep in my room tonight?"

Skye nodded and May picked her up with her blanket and monkey and carried her into her own room. She put her down in between her and Phil. He stirred awake and looked over at Skye.

"You alright angel eyes?"

Skye nodded and started to get comfortable under the covers. May opened her arms so that Skye could be closer to her and they fell back asleep.

______________________________

Skye woke up still wrapped in Mays arms. She looked over and saw that Phil wasn't there anymore. She very carefully removed herself from Mays embrace and grabbed Fitz and her blanket and went downstairs to find where Phil had went. She found him humming quietly to himself while making French toast. He must've heard her come down the stairs because he started talking. 

"Hey kiddo, did you sleep okay? I'm making French toast if you want to help." He said as he smiled at her.

Skye hadn't really spent any time alone with Phil before. In most foster homes she went to it was usually the dads that didnt like her so she was hesitant. He had been nice to her these past few days and never did anything she wasn't comfortable with so she decided to be brave and sit and the counter and watch as he made breakfast.

"You like the blanket?" He said pointing to the one she was holding. "I picked it out for you, captain america is the best, I have some trading cards and t-shirts with his shield on it." He rambled on about captain america as he flipped the French toast. It was nice, he didnt pressure her to talk and filled the awkward silence if there was any.

"Skye what do you like to do, like for fun, me personally I work on Lola, my car is the garage."

"Um i like to color I guess. Why are you fixing a car when you have a one that works now."

"My dad fixed up a car with his dad so we started working on Lola together, he passed away a few years ago so now I work on it with Leo when he wants to help. You're always welcome to join us if you want to."

"Sorry about your dad" She said looking up at him.

"Thank you Skye, it was a long time ago so I'm okay now, do you wanna watch a movie while we wait for the others to wake up." 

They got up and sat down on the couch and started watching the first Captain America movie. This time she let him get closer to her, he was more likely to talk her ears off than to hurt her she decided. The movie was really entertaining so they watched the next one. She wondered if this is what dads were supposed to be like. 

Only five minutes into the second movie Leo came down to join them. He grabbed a plate of French toast and sat down on the ither side of Skye. He seemed to know just as much about the movie as Phil did. Melinda came down not long after and they fimished the movie together. 

"Okay everyone we are going to the mall today, we need to get Skye a new pair of shoes and some toys and Leo needs some things for his science project so can you guys get ready." Melinda told everyone.

Skye decided to wear a striped long sleeve shirt and a pair of overalls, she put on her only pair of shoes and went back to where May was. She stood in front of her and rocked back and forth of the heel of her shoe "do I look okay?" 

"You look beautiful sweetheart" Melinda told her with a smile

The drive to the mall wasn't long, Phil was rambling on and on about the movies they watched as Melinda payed no attention to him. As they pulled into the mall parking lot Skye felt herself getting increasingly more nervous. The last time she went to the mall she was left there for hours.

They nade it to the entrance and Skye just stopped walking. Phil was the first to notice. He bent down in front of her and started speaking. "What's wrong angel eyes?"

She had liked the new nickname Phil had given her it made her feel special. "Alan and Susan left me at the mall once." She said with her voice as quiet as she coukd.

"We aren't going to leave you here Skye." He said softly.

She shrugged her shoulders and started to walk again. Phil stood with her and she slipped her hand into his and they walked together. She looked up and saw him smiling down at her like he had just won the lottery. 

There first stop at the mall was tue shoe store. Skye walked around the kid section slowly, she was eyeing the prices of all the shoes. If she was going to get a new pair they couldn't be too much, the Coulsons had already spent so much money on her. She ended up picking a pair of black and grey shoes that were about $20, she didnt love them but they would do. Leo seemed to understand what she was doing because he took the shoes out of her hands and told her "pick whichever pair you like best, it doesn't matter how much they cost" 

She found a pair of yellow converse sneakers that she actually liked and ended up getting them. Their next stop in the mall was Target for Leos sciencey stuff. She didnt understand almost all of what he was saying when he spoke about his project. She grabbed onto Phils hand again as they walked through the mall to Target.

Once inside Leo and May went to the crafts section and Skye and Phil went to the toy aisel. The entire way there she had assured him that she didnt need any toys but he wasn't taking no first and answer. He grabbed a little bag to put them in and told her to pick whatever she wanted. As she was scanning the shelves looking for something interesting she saw some guy come up to her and Phil. Instinctively she went to go hide behind him. The man was speaking to Phil rather than her. "Your daughter is so gorgeous, especially for someone of her kind." 

He seemed to get upset at something the guy had said but she couldn't understand why he was upset. 

"I'm sorry what is that supposed to mean." Phil exclaimed with his voice getting slightly louder. 

"Oh its just that sometimes half breed kids come out looking kinda funny ya know?" The other man said.

"Don't ever talk about her like that okay, im going to need you to leave me and my daughter alone before I call security." He was now shouting at the guy and that seemed to scare him off. 

Skye was shaking a little bit but she didn't want to say anything. Phil bent down to her level and spoke softly. "I'm sorry for scaring you Skye but the things that guy was saying about you were not okay."

She nodded. Thats when she remembered what Phil had called her 'my daughter' she was never anyones daughter, she had always been 'foster kid' or 'some kid I'm looking after' but never daughter. She smiled to herself and then wrapped her arms around Phil's. She whispered into his shoulder a small "Thank you" He smiled and rubbed his hand up and down her back in soothing motions. "Anytime kiddo, now did you find something you like." 

She let go of the hug and grabbed a Captain America action figure. Phil smiled at it and ruffled her hair a little bit. She put the toy into the bag he was holding and slipped her hand back into his. She picked out a few more action figures and a couple of coloring books. 

They checked out and met back up with Leo and May. By now everyone was hungry so they went to Applebee's. Skye was smiling and laughing the entire time. For the first time since she moved in with them she really felt like she was apart of the family. They had been so nice to her and made sure she was okay and it was the best feeling ever.


	18. Frozen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trip, Lincoln and Skye being the best of buds along with the amazing family that is Philindaisy+Fitz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make this chapter a little bit longer than the rest to make up for taking so long to post this, lol. Anyway I really like how this chapter turned out.

The next day back at school had been uneventful which Skye was greatful for. The past two months had already been filled with too much excitement for a long time. Unfortunately two very friendly young boys did not want to let the topic of Halloween go. 

They were sitting at there desks after just having finished a math test. Ms.May decided to give the class some free time while she graded them. She wasn't sure how the conversation of Halloween came up but suddenly it was all Trip and Lincoln would talk about.

"Skye what are you going to be for Halloween? I am going to be Kristof from frozen, I love that movie." Lincoln exclaimed. He started going on and on about how Kristoff was so cool and that his pet reindeer was also cool. She wasn't really sure what he was talking about though.

"I don't know if I'm dressing up, I'll have to ask my-" Skye stopped speaking, she wasn't really sure what to call them, they weren't her parents but she didnt wanna tell them she was a foster kid, they probably wouldn't get it.

Your parents?" Trip finished her sentence. She didnt have the heart to correct then so she nodded.

"I'm sure your parents will be okay with you dressing up. Hey you can be Anna and we can match" lincoln said smiling.

"I've never seen frozen" She shrugged.

"Girl, I have the movie we can watch it together, just ask your mom if we can come over so we can watch it." Trip said.

This is where there was a little bit of a problem. She was living with Melinda and if Trip came over to watch a movie with her then he'd see Ms.May there. Then he would think she was lying when she told him that Ms.May wasn't her mom. So now she had to think of a reason why they couldn't come over. The more she thought of it the dumber her plan sounded. Trip and Lincoln were her best friends surely they wouldn't care she was a foster kid. Right?

"Oh um I uh i don't have a mom, I kinda live with Ms.May right now" She said quietly hoping they didn't hear. It was clear they did when she saw the very confused look on thier faces.

"If you don't have a mom, then where's your dad." Lincoln asked. She shrugged her shoulders. "Is that why you live with Ms.May, cause you don't have parents." 

"Yeah her family is taking care of me for awhile."

"Well then she'll definitely say yes, we could ask her if you don't want to she likes us, we are definitely her favorite students." Trip said with a wide smile.

________________

Melinda had been grading test papers and everyone had been doing really well. She got Skyes paper and found she only got 3/10 correct. Obviously Skye wouldn't do well with all the moving around she had to do. May didnt know how she hadn't noticed before, she was too busy making sure she was safe. But now she realizes that she should probably be helping Skye more when it comes to her schoolwork.

She finished grading the papers but she let the kids have more free time. Most of them were reading anyway and they were being fairly quiet. She peered around the room looking. at everyone her eyes found Skye. She looked like a happy care free kid, she was laughing at her friends jokes, and had a huge smile on her face. 

Towards the end of the class she did storytime at the carpet like she does everyday. Once she finished it was time for the kids to pack up and start heading home. Only this time Trip and Lincoln were walking up to her instead of leaving. Skye was walking slowly seemingly nervous behind them. Skye never said when she nervous she didnt really speak feelings but over time May had picked up on some of her nervous tics. Like how she'd fiddle with her necklace or wiggle her fingers.

"Ms.May, Skye says she lives with you, but like she's never seen frozen and I really want her to watch it, so can I ask my my mom to bring it over so we can watch it together." Trip was speaking faster than she could even think right now. She only caught about 75% about what this kid had said. She didnt know Skye had told them about her living arrangements, it didnt upset her she was just surprised. 

"Yes Trip you and Lincoln can bring Frozen over for a movie night." She smiled at them. They were good kids and Skye seemed so happy to be hanging out with them. The kids celebrated then said thier goodbyes. They were now alone in the classroom and Skye was doing the math worksheet she had been given. 

Skye seemed to be struggling in the math department, she was relatively good at everything else. Of course Skye would never admit that she was struggling. She made a mental note to help Skye with her homework later today. 

Melinda got up from her desk chair and collected her purse and keys and motioned for Skye to grab her things as well. 

As soon as everyone was home Phil started planning out dinner while Leo and Skye played upstairs. They often played with her action figures and little monkey Fitz. Skye could often be seen on the couch cuddling her monkey and Captain America blanket. Her and Phil both shared an intense love for those movies.

"Just a heads up tomorrow we are hosting a movie night for seven year olds tomorrow." Melinda said granting Phil with a kiss. 

"I'm going to go ahead and assume that these seven year olds are Skye's friends." He said leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Yeah, Trip and Lincoln, they want her to watch Frozen." She smiled softly. 

"That is adorable, I'll bake them some cookies, oh and we can make popcorn." He said excitedly. This was classic Phil, he did the same thing when the first time Jemma had come over. He had been so excited that Leo actually made a friend that he went a littlebit overboard. He bought like twelve new blankets, three boardgames and made homemade pizza. 

"I love your enthusiasm but let's not go crazy okay? They're three seven year olds they will be impressed by a blue lightbulb." Which was in fact true,she brought one in to class after a kid said they only made white ones.

"I know I know I'm just happy for her she's finally getting to act like a regular kid." He said wrapping her in a hug.

May leaned into the embrace and mumbled against his chest "yeah me too" she smiled as she felt him press a kiss to the top of her head.

_____________________

Skye looked down at the toy in her hand and suddenly stopped playing. She thought back to Lincoln and hers conversation earlier. She wondered if Mel and Phil would let her trick or treat. They had been nice to her these past two months, took care of her and never scared her. Leo and Jemma had said they were both dressing up as some people from a Disney movie, she wasn't really paying attention. 

Then she started to wonder if Melinda was upset she told her  
she lived with her. She never said she could, maybe she was embarrassed of her, or maybe she was going to get rid of her. They never spoke about the future, little things like what they'd have for Thanksgiving or any plans for next month. Skye wasn't stupid she knew that when she wasn't involved in future plans she'd be leaving soon. Her mind was spiraling and she couldn't stop thinking. Her breath started to quicken and her eyes were getting teary.

"Hey woah Skye calm down what's wrong" 

She heard Leo talking but he sounded so far away. That drowning feeling she had had before was coming back. 

"Mom!, Dad! Get up here" Leo shouted from his doorframe. He turned back to her "Skye you need to calm down, relax." 

She started to feel even worse now that she had started to worry everyone over something so foolish. The tears in her eyes fell asleep she kept trying to suck air in. Melinda and Phil came into the room with worried looks on their faces and then met her on the floor. Leo got out of the way and sat on his bed watching everything unfold.

" Xiǎohuā focus on my breathing" May said taking a deep breath in then out again "We are right here Skye, you're alright" She said in her soft toned voice.

She was breathing fine now after a few minutes but the tears hadn't stopped. They were being so nice to her and she really didn't wanna have to leave them. She looked up and saw that Leo had left the room, and felt relieved he wouldn't have time watch her panic.

Mel and Phil where sitting in front of her seemingly waiting for her to say something. "Please don't take me back" She choked out.

"We aren't going to take you back" May said softly taking Skyes hand in her own. 

"Why, why not? I'm not a good kid, there's better ones" 

"Because we love you angel eyes" Phil chimed in.

They loved her. Skye fought back more tears the more she thought about it. She loved them too. Before she could even think about what she was doing she got up and launched herself into Phils arms. He fell back a little bit due to the surprise and how caught off guard he must've been from the unprompted contact. She sighed out when he hugged her back with no hesitation. "I love you too" she said it back even though it scared her. She meant every word too. May joined in on there little hug and started to rub little circles up and down her back in soothing motions. She was exhausted and ended up falling asleep right there in the arms of people who loved her.

She woke up on the living room couch with her blanket thrown over her. She got up to check the time and it was now 6pm which meant that Phil would be cooking dinner now. Wondering into the kitchen she found him stirring spaghetti sauce wearing his ridiculous apron. He pulled a chair next to him and motioned for her to join him. He gave her the spoona and showed her how to make spaghetti sauce. 

Dinner tasted great as it always did when Phil cooked. The time passed rather fast, they had the usual conversations about what happened at school and how the day was. Not long after dinner was finished they all went to the living room to play some board games and watch movies. It was a school night so they couldn't stay up as late as they usually did. It didn't matter she was happy and she wouldn't trade that for the world.

Getting up and ready the next morning was quick and easy. Skye had been so excited about Trip and Lincoln coming over later that she planned her outfit out yesterday. She wore a black and white t-shirt with a panda face on it,and a pair of black skinny jeans. Even though they didnt match her outfit she put on her yellow comverse shoes. 

Leaving her room she found May in the living room doing some sort of wavy hand dancing thing. She looked peaceful and calm and just overall relaxed. She didnt wanna bother that so she snuck past her quietly and very carefully made herself a bowl of cereal. 

Skye was eating her cereal when Mel came in. "Its called Tai chi" May said before continuing "It keeps you calm and allows you to focus on breathing, I can teach you if you want to learn it." May said grabbing a banana.

Just then Leo came down the stairs looking more asleep than awake. He had on two different shoes his collard shirt was half tucked in and jeans were not the regular khaki colored ones he wore, but green ones. She giggled at the sight of it and he immediately looked up to look st her.

"What are you laughing at?" He said.

May grinned before pointing to his whole outfit. He looked down and saw the problem and started to stomp up the stairs saying "Great just another thing to make my morning so much worse!" 

He came back down twenty minutes later and Phil soon followed after. They all got into the car and drove off. 

Today was supposed to be a review day at school, which Skye was okay with, no matter how many times people showed it to her she just did not understand math. Ms.May had pulled her aside so that she could catch her up and help her understand it better. 

The day ended as quickly as it started. Today was different though, instead of it only being her and May left, Trip and Lincoln where there too. Phil had agreed to drive them to their house and thief parents would pick them up.

"Skye are you excited, I'm so excited, the movie is really good" Trip exclaimed.

"Trip you better not spoil it for her, you talk a lot." Lincoln said crossing his arms.

"Alright you kids ready? Phil is outside so we can go now." May said gathering her things up and leading them out if the classroom.

The ride home had been filled with everyone singing along to the radio songs and Trip and Lincoln bickering. Despite not engaging in there odd conversations about Pokemon she was glad she was friends with them. It was nice having friends her own age, she really did like Jemma and Leo but they had a tendency to leave her out of thief conversations. At least with Trip and Lincoln they tried to get her to talk about the things they liked. Trio started explaining Pokemon to her and she didn't understand any of it but she pretended she did anyway because she wanted to make him happy, and it did.

They got inside and took off their coats and handed them to Phil who put them all in the closet. "Hey Skye why don't you show then your room while we make the living room all cozy for you guys" Phil said 

Skye agreed and lead the way up the stairs. She opened the door and let them inside. She never showed a room to anyone before so she wasn't wuite sure what to do next. She awkwardly started to point at things as she made her way around the room. The boys didnt seem to mind her awkwardness though, in fact they wore wide smiles on there faces, especially when she showed them her Avengers action figures.

"Yea my um D--Phil got them for me we watched the movies together, Captain America is my favorite." Skye explained picking up the action figure from its place on her dresser. 

"Aw thats so cool I really like Thor, his lightning powers are so cool" Lincoln said.

They went back downstairs and the living room had blankets and pillows everywhere,there were bowls of chips and popcorn set up on the coffee table and Fitz was placed very carefully on one of the pillows. They all sat on the couch sandwiching Skye in the middle and there eyes were glued to the TV. Despite Trip being a big talker he was silent the whole movie. His eyes never left the screen and Skye herself was just as invested. At the end of the movie Skye had been so amazed she didn't even move. It was probably the best movie she had ever seen, next to Captain America of course. 

The thread of then got up from the couch and started singing "Let it go" at the top of their lungs. She stopped dancing long enough to catch Phil and Mel smiling at her and taking pictures. She ran up to both of them and hugged them and mumbled against there shirts a very happy "Thank you". They each placed a kiss to the top of her head. 

May was now bent down in front of her as she spoke out a "Anytime baby girl" and ruffled up her hair a little bit. The nickname sent butterflies to her stomach and she smiled widely and went back to dancing with her friends.


	19. Trick or Treat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AAHHHG omg im so sorry this has been sitting in my drafts for three days. Anyway its Halloween now yay

It was the morning of Halloween and Skye was extremely excited. She had never gotten to go trick or treating before. The nuns at St.Agnes thought Halloween was the "Devils Day" which never made sense to her because you just get candy from strangers. Which now that she thought about it, it was a really weird holiday. She didn't care though. Mel had gotten her an Anna costume so that she could match with Lincoln. Him and Trip were coming over later so they could all go trick or treating together, Jemma was also coming along.

Skye was sitting on the couch watching cartoons with Leo. She actually wasn't sure what Leo was going to be for Halloween she never thought to ask him.

"Leo are you and Jemma dressing up?"

"Oh yes we are going as beauty and the beast. Jemma wanted us to match again, we always have matching costumes. I got to pick what we were last year so she decided this year." He smiled at her.

"Me and Lincoln are matching too" She was grinning ear to ear "Trip and Him shows me Frozen so we goin as Kristof and Anna"

"Ah that's a good choice, I'm sure Mom is going to want to take a lot of photos"

"Why would she wanna do that?" Skye said now visibly confused. Nobody took pictures of her they were usually embarrassed about her. 

"So you can look at then later, or so she can hang them up on the walls. We don't have any photos of you around yet, we should take some"

They actually wanted pictures of her. Skye was still getting used to the idea that they actually wanted her. They loved her and they wanted people to know that. 

she scooted closer to Leo so that she was leaning against him. He looked down and smiled and then put his arm around her. They continued watching cartoons for the rest of the morning.

Lunch had rolled around and Skye had begun to get extremely impatient. She was so excited for tonight that she couldn't think about anything else. She tried doing other things to distract herself but nothing was working. She helped make lunch with Phil, she did that wavy hand dance with Mel, she even listened to Leo ramble on about his geeky science stuff. 

She checked the time only to find that it was 4pm. She sighed heavily as she threw herself onto the armchair in the living room. Mel was sitting on the couch reading a book as she watched Skye move around the room checking the time every five seconds.

"Skye that won't make time move any faster" She didn't even look up from what she was reading."In fact it will probably make time feel like it's moving even slower."

Skye sighed out again this time smushing her face into the couch cushion May was sitting next to. Melinda let out a small chuckle than started to play with Skye's hair.

"I know you're excited but you need to be patient. You only need to wait three more hours." Mel had said still playing with Skyes hair. "Once it hits seven and Lincoln and Trip are here we can go."

Skye nodded against the couch cushions. Suddenly she felt herself being lifted up. She looked up and found it was May lifting her onto her lap. May was holding the tv remote and she put on Skyes favorite movie. Which was Captain America thanks to Phil. 

______________

With absolutely no surprise May found that Skye had fallen asleep during the movie. Which was her whole plan, Skye had been awake since 8am because she was so excited. Which she would consider to be the most adorable thing ever, if not a little bit sad. She was seven and had never gone trick or treating before.

She carefully slide Skye off of her lap and laid her down on a pillow, she covered her up with a random blanket on the couch and kissed her forehead. 

Cleaning up the house a little bit she found Phil and Leo in the garage fixing up that old car of his. Well it was more Phil fixing it and Leo watching telling him what he was doing wrong. She leaned against the doorframe wondering how she had gotten so lucky. May was married to her best friend and they had the most amazing son and now daughter and she couldn't wish for anything more.

Leos phone rang so he left the garage to talk with Jemma, which was perfect because she had wanted to talk to Phil about something.

Before she could even say anything Phil spoke." Mel whats wrong you have that same look on your face as you did when Leo broke his leg." He whipped the oil off his hands with a rag and stepped closer to her. She sighed he knew her so well.

"Oh no Phil its nothing bad I was just thinking what if we adopted Skye?"

His face lit up in a bright smile and he nodded."I think that's a great idea." He wrapped May into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

__________________  
Skye woke up on the couch and saw that the tv was now off and May was gone. She looked at the clock on the wall and found that it was 6:30, she immediately got up and started running around the house.

"Mel, Mel, Mel, Mel" She said sliding on the hardwood floor and stopping at her office doors. May turned looked up from her office chair and gave a small smile. "Its almost 7"

May looked at her watch. "Would you look at that it is."

Skye frowned a little at her lack of excitement.

"Skye I'm kidding, do you want to go get ready?" 

Skye nodded and sprinted to her room. She put on her little Anna costume and started twirling in the mirror. She turned around and saw May standing in the doorway taking multiple pictures of her. 

The doorbell rang and they both knew exactly who it was. They went down the stairs and saw Phil opening the door to the small kids in costumes. Lincoln was in his Kristoff costume and Trip was Dr.Facilier from princess and the frog.

Skye gave each boy a fist bump and they started speaking about candy and weird kids movies.

"Alright alright everyone get closer so I can get a photo of all you guys in your costumes." Phil said.

They got closer with Skye in the middle of Lincoln and Trip. Phil snapped a few photos and then the doorbell rang and Jemma stepped inside. 

"Perfect everyone is here now we can take another group photo." Phil exclaimed. 

They stood in the same position as before except now Jemma and Leo were behind them.

"Alright you have your pictures can we pleaseee go now" Skye said.

"Yes we can go now, just make sure you guys stay close to me, Phil is going to stay home and give out candy to the kids who stop by."

They walked out the door and Skyes excitement died down a little once she saw how dark it was outside and how many other kids were outside. Lincoln seemed to notice her uneasiness cause he took her hand in his and smiled at her.

They walked up to the first house a nice old lady opened the door. "Well aren't you guys just the cutest." She gave each of then three pieces of candy and they all walked away.

"Look Mel she gave me three pieces." Skye said shoving her candy bag into her face.

"You're going to get a lot more than three by the time were done." 

They went around the neighborhood for about an hour before everyone got tired. Leo ended giving Skye a piggy back ride home while May held her candy bag which was now full to the top. Trip and Lincoln went home and Jemma decided to stay over.

They ordered a pizza and played some board games until it was about 11pm. Jemma ended up falling asleep on the couch with Leo next to her.

"C'mon Skye its time for bed" Mel said. Skye brushed her teeth got into some pajamas then laid down under her covers. May came back with Fitz and kissed Skye on the top of her head. 

"Mel?" Skye asked quietly

"Yeah sweetie?"

"You're a really good mom" and with that Skye fell asleep, dreaming of candylands and unicorns.


	20. Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its mainly fluff and inner monologues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I may have taken a longer break then intended but I'm back and so is the fam.  
> WOOOOOOO
> 
> also im rewatching AOS and framework Ward is such a simp for Skye its adorable.

May and Skye were sitting in the living room with math papers spread out everywhere on the coffee table and couch.

"Okay Skye now what is 5 and 6 together, what does that equal?"

Skye looked around for a bit, then put her pencil down to count it out in her fingers. "Um I think that's 11?" She said unsure.

"Yeah that's correct, write it down now." May said pointing to the paper. Mays phone started ringing on the counter. She stood up from her spot on the floor and told Skye "Do the rest of the problems I'll check them after my call."

May picked up the phone with hesitation after reading the contact name. "Hi Dad"

The voice on the other end of the phone spoke. "Mellie when were you planning on telling me I have a granddaughter, I had to find out from my grandson."

"Dad, she's been living with us for 2 weeks. I didn't want to overwhelm her."

"Alright I understand, does your mother know?"

"Of course not she's still warming up to the idea of Phil and I being married."

"That's just Lian being Lian. We'll be over for Thanksgiving by the way."

"You still talk mom? And you guys are coming together."

"Yes Qiaolian we are capable of being civil. Now I must let you go my friends have arrived for golf."

"Alright bye Dad." Melinda hung up the phone and walked back into the living room where Skye was. 

She checked all of Skyes homework and they were all correct so she let her go play around for a while.  
_____________________

Skye wandered into the garage where Phil and Leo were. They had been working on the car all morning while she had been doing dumb math. Mel said she needed to work on it cause she wasn't doing as good as she should be. She found a stool in the garage and sat and watched then work. They said she could help but she wasn't interested in the slightest, but it was nice to know she could if she wanted to.

The family she stayed with before the Canhills had a son, he was older than her and never paid much attention to her, which she was okay with. But him and his dad would always hang out in the yard playing catch or something as she watched, they never allowed her to join, they made it clear it was their thing and their thing only.

Phil stuck his head out from the inside of the hood and spoke. "Hey Skye, how has your math skills been going? Any improvement." 

She nodded "Yeah Mel says I've been doing gooder. Er better that was the word."

"Ah that's good I'm proud of you kiddo" He smiled at her.

Well that was a new one. She'd stayed with a lot of people but never had she heard that. She learned pretty early on that people were ashamed of her or embarrassed, because of her 'bad behavior' or 'talking back'. 

She got off her stool and wrapped her small arms around Phil's torso. He dropped the wrench she was holding and hugged her back. 

"What's this for?" He asked rubbing her back gently.

She sighed out "I love you" 

"I love you too, angel eyes." He kissed the top of her head and smiled down at her.

Phil started showing her the parts if the car and what they did while Leo sat on the side playing some video gane that had to do with soccer. Learning about car parts was more interesting than she'd care to admit but could only entertain her for so long. 

She left the garage to go find Mel, after searching the whole house she found her outside in a yoga mat with her eyes closed doing her wavy hand thing again. She looked peaceful and Skye didn't wanna mess that up so she took a spot on the grass and watched what she was doing.

After a minute or two Mel opened her eyes and looked right down at Skye.

"You alright?"

"What are you doing?, you said before but i can't member what it is." Skye said quizzically.

Mel smirked a bit "the word is remember" she enunciated. "its called Tai Chi it helps to calm you and focuses on breathing." 

"cool" Skye said genuinely.

"Here I'll teach you." Mel held out her hands to help Skye up and started showing her the movements. She got the hang of it pretty quickly and found herself enjoying it as well.

After 20 minutes they went inside to get lunch. They made some sandwiches the played with her avengers figures.

The idea that they were all so willing to take care of her and play with her was already overwhelming enough even without the added bonus that they love her. Something she had been searching for her whole life, a place to belong, to be loved,to be cared for, she finally found.


	21. Cookies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like how this chapter ended up, you might not tho :)
> 
> Anyway enjoy comments abd kudos always appreciated. Have a nice day :)

Melinda got up and out of bed like she usually didn't a school day and found that she was actually running a few minutes late. She went to wake up Leo but he was already up and getting dressed. She went to Skye's room and found her face first in the pillow with her blankets very loosely on her. Melinda smiled softly and walked over to wake her up gently by nudging her shoulder. 

"Skye, Skye honey its time to get up we're going to be late." She said in a whispered voice.

"Five more minutes mama." Skye mumbled into the pillow.

May wasn't sure if she meant to say that but either way it melted her heart. She wasn't sure how to respond but apparently what Skye said caught up with her. Cause she sat up with a guilty look on her face.

"sorry"

"No its alright its fine, you don't need to apologize" May said trying to comfort the girl. "How about we get you dressed and see what Phil has cooked up for breakfast, sound like a plan?" she said in an attempt to change the topic. 

Skye got up and outta bed and walked over to dresser looking through her options. She pulled out a Spider-Man t-shirt and some black jeans. For a seven year old she sure knew how to dress. They left her room and Skye brushed her teeth then came out the bathroom holding the hairbrush. May took it and carefully brushed Skye's hair into two cute pigtails.

They walked downstairs and Skye sat at the counter waiting for Phil to acknowledge her presence. He turned around and smiled at her. "How's my little princess doing this morning." He handed her a small plate of eggs and bacon which she took.

"I'm okay" She shrugged and put a piece of bacon in her mouth. It didn't take a scientist to realize Skye wasn't acting like herself, and May had a pretty good idea as to why. Melinda motioned for Phil to leave the room which he did.

"Xiaohua what's wrong?" May said gently

"Are you my mommy now? You do all the mommy stuff, is okay if you not" She shrugged again, fidgeting with her necklace. "I called Ms.Brody mom once she was angry." She was looking down at her plate now.

May gave a sad smile." Do you want me to be? Phil and I were planning on adopting you if that's alright."

Skye looked up from her plate but didn't seem convinced. "Are you messing with me cause that would not be nice."

"No Skye I promise im not messing with you."

Skye smiled at her wildly and threw herself into May. May held onto her and rocked her back and forth like she had done when she gave her that flower necklace. Skye never took it off and she showed it to everyone new she met, which was adorable.

"I'm going to assume that your okay with us adopting you." May said smiling. 

"yes yes yes yes one thousand times yes." Skye said 

"That's a lot of yeses. Now we still have school today so hurry up and eat your breakfast. Once we get home we can make some chocolate chip cookies and tell the guys the amazing news, sound like a plan?" She whispered that last part so that only Skye would hear it.

Skye nodded and shoveled scrambled egg in her mouth. 

________________________________

Skye was sitting at her desk coloring in her coloring book. It was supposed to be quiet time but Skye was so excited to share the good news with her friends. They were sitting across from her each working on a coloring sheet she had given them.

"Guys guys guess what." She said kind of whisper yelling.

"Wassup Skye" Trip responded.

She out down her crayon and smiled. "Mel-- er uh Ms.May said she wanted to adopt me."

Lincoln looked confused at the statement."What's that mean"

"It means I get to be her's for permanent and she won't give me away."

"Oh that's really cool Skye. Ms.May is super cool." Trip said.

They continued coloring for the rest of quiet time. Before Mel called her up to her desk. She was holding a piece of paper in her, and a smile on her face. When she got up to her desk she was handed the paper. It was the math test they had taken yesterday. She got a 10/10 and a cute sticker on the paper.

She showed Trip and Lincoln her test and they congratulated her. She gave ended up giving her sticker to Lincoln because he wanted it.

The ride home was how it usually went. Skye was singing along to some song on the radio and Mel and Phil were talking about strange things, like bills.

Once they got home Skye put her bag in room anf went back to find Mel. Phil and Leo left the house so that they could go pick up jemma and get more things fir thier science project. Skye still wasn't at all sure what their project was about. It had something to do with DNA, whatever that was.

She was sitting on the couch watching cartoons when Mel came in.

"Skye do you wanna make chocolate cookies?" She asked her smiling while holding a package of cookie dough.

"Yes yes yes." She got off the couch and followed her to the kitchen.

Mel sprayed the pan with some non stick and Skye rolled the dough into little balls and put them on it.They stuck the pan into the oven and set a timer for twenty minuets.

Skye figured that since she was getting adopted that Mel wouldn't mind her calling her mom. But Skye didn't actually like the word 'Mom' the last time she had called someone Mom she was sent back and Mel wasn't like that.

Skye was also really tired after rolling out the dough and from school. She tried to hide her yawns but Mel saw all of them.

Mel smiled at her "Skye if your tired why don't I read you a story and you take a little nap, I'll wake you as soon as the cookies are done."

A nap didn't actually sound too bad to Skye. She nodded and then held up her hands so that she could be carried upstairs.

Mel settled Skye down in her bed and grabbed a book and joined her on the bed. Skye fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

______________________

While reading to Skye, May also seemed to doze off. She hadn't realized she was so tired.

She woke up to smoke and the smell of burning cookies, and Skye was no longer next to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahahaha don't hate me  
> I wanted more drama   
> also its a cliffhanger hahahahahahaha
> 
> :)


	22. Mama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see Skye's side of the story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda short but I had some motivation to write today so I did

The last thing Skye remembered before waking up was Mel and her reading in bed. She awoke when she smelt smoke, she looked over and saw Mel still asleep. Skye wasn't thinking clearly because instead of waking her she let her stay asleep. Mel had already helped her out so much, it was her turn to help now. 

She didnt think when she walked downstairs she'd see the stove on fire. Fire was spreading to the countertops and smoke was filling the room. She was coughing alot because of the smoke but was looking for a way to put it out. She put her arm up to her forehead in a poor attempt to keep the smoke away from her eyes. Skye found a glass of water on the coffee table and threw it at the fire which did absolutely nothing. The fire grazed her and burned her arm a little when she tried putting the glass down. Her eyes were filling with tears and she was panicking, it was getting harder to breathe not only because of the fire. Feeling lightheaded she sat down at the bottom of the stairs, not having the energy to climb up them.  
She tried shouting "Mama" but her voice was hoarse from coughing so much. Skye continued sitting watching the fire grow and inevitably passed out.

______________________________

May got out of the bed in a panic. Before heading downstairs she checked all of Skyes room thoroughly.   
"Skye if you're hiding anywhere in this room its not funny anymore." May pleaded knowing the small child wasn't in there. 

She opened the room door to see the hallway filled up with smoke. 'Good job May you try to bake some cookies and now your house is on fire and you're missing your kid' she thought to herself. She went down the stairs and found Skye passed out with a burn on her. She crouched down and tried shaking her awake.   
"Skye, skye honey cmon you gotta wake up." After a few shakes the little girl opened her eyes slowly still having the tears in them.

"Mama? I'm sorry I should have woken you up." Skye said with the tears now falling 

May felt her grow warm at the title, she gave a gentle smile and wiped the tears off of Skye's cheeks.

"Its okay Xiǎohuā, right now we need to focus on getting out of here."

Skye nodded and stood up, placing her hand in Mays. The fire around them was growing, and the door was blocked. May looked around and saw a clear path to the dinning room. She picked Skye up into her arms and pushed her head down into her shoulder so she wouldn't inhale so much smoke. Quickly walking over to the window in the dinning room she opened it up and carefully lowered Skye out of it, then herself.

Once out she picked Skye back up and went to the neighbors house so she could call the fire department, and Phil. She sat on the neighbors steps with Skye in her lap, waiting for them to arrive.

"Oh my god, Melinda, Skye are you guys alright." Phil said running over to them with Jemma and Leo following closely behind.

"Yeah yeah we're okay, she's got a few burns though."

"Mom what happened to the house?" Leo asked stepping closer to them.

"We were baking cookies, we were going to tell you guys once you got back. She said yes to the adoption. We fell asleep, I fell asleep, I shouldn't have done that. Today was supposed to be special, and important and now I've ruined it and the house." May was now crying, letting the guilt she was feeling wash over her.

Leo took a seat beside her and out his arm on her shoulder. "Its alright Mom everything in that house is replaceable you guys aren't." He tickled Skye's sides a little bit trying to get her to smile. 

Skye's eyes went wide as she realized "oh no I left Fitz there, I'm sorry Leo, he was special to you."

"It doesn't matter what matters is that you are alright." He gave both May and Skye a side hug and soon Phil and Jemma were sitting beside them as well.

The fire department came and put out the fire. Skye was put on a gurney so that they could take a look at her. They wrapped put a burn cream on her arm and the wrapped it up with some bandage. 

________________________

As Skye sat in the fire truck getting patched up, she realized she was never given permission to call Mel 'mama', now that she thought about it they probably didn't want to adopt her anymore, she was the reason the house was on fire after all. But then again Mel did say they wouldn't do that.

"Mel? I needa ask ya something"

"What's up sweetheart" 

She fiddled with the necklace around her neck and avoided making eye contact with her. "Um are you still gonna adopt me?"

"Of course we are, why wouldn't we?" 

"The house was fire and it was my fault" 

Mel grabbed her hands and gently moved her faced so that she was looking at her. "Skye we are never going to not want you. You could burn down seven small towns and we woukd still want you, I'd prefer you didnt but no matter what, you're stuck with us now."

Skye let out a relieved sigh and out her arms around Mels neck. "I love you mama, um can i call you that now"

"I love you too.You can call me whatever makes you happy little one." Mel said as she hugged her and rubbed little circles up and down her back.

Over Mels shoulder she could see Phil, Leo and Jemma heading into the house probably to see the damage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos always appreciated. :)
> 
> Have a wonderful day


End file.
